Former President Jacob Zuma has instituted private prosecution of African National Congress (ANC) president Cyril Ramaphosa.
This was announced by the Jacob Zuma Foundation on Thursday, but what exactly the charges against Ramaphosa are still unclear.
Zuma is also attending the ANC national executive committee (NEC) as a delegate at Nasrec over the weekend.
The former president’s arrival received mixed reactions from delegates with some singing pro-Ramaphosa songs as he went to register. “Ramaphosa re tsamaya le wena (Ramaphosa we walk with you) was sung but some supporters as soon as Zuma went to register.
The Jacob Zuma Foundation said Ramaphosa has been “criminally charged”.
“President Cyril Ramaphosa has been criminally charged in a private prosecution with the criminal offence of being accessory after the fact in the crimes committed by among others Advocate Downwer namely, breaching the provisions of the NPA Act.”
“The serious crimes for which Mr Ramaphosa has been charged with in a court of law carry the sentence of 15 years imprisonment,” the Foundation said.
The Foundation confirmed that Zuma launched the private prosecution.
“The private prosecution has been duly instituted by H… President JG Zuma in the Johannesburg High Court where the accused person will make his first appearance on 19 January 2023.”
Advocate Billy Downer is the state prosecutor in the Zuma arms deal-related corruption trial. Zuma has been trying to remove Downer from the case but did not succeed.
It is still unclear how Ramaphosa ties into the case between Downer and Zuma, nor whether there has been a nolle prosequi certificate issued by the NPA, indicating an unwillingness to prosecute Ramaphosa on the specific charges.
If the charges hold up, it could throw a spanner in the works of Ramaphosa’s re-election campaign, as he would have to step aside from all party positions and would be unable to contest this weekends elections for leadership positions, like Zuma-ally Ace Magashule.
Source: The Citizen, News24, image from Twitter: @MOORSSS4