Late last year, Zuma and his legal team put a spanner in the works of his arms deal corruption trial when they applied to have Downer, the senior prosecutor of the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) removed as the prosecutor of the high profile case.
Zuma argued that Downer did not have the title to prosecute him, and he further alleged that from as early as 2001, Downer had contaminated the case by leaking critical information to the media and CIA spies.
Zuma alleged that the leaking of information by Downer continued until August last year, when he allegedly leaked Zuma’s medical records to a journalist.
The application for recusal was then heard, and on October 26, Judge Piet Koen dismissed it and ordered that the corruption trial, which has dragged for almost 18 years, should go ahead in April this year.
Judge Koen was emphatic that Zuma's argument that Downer lacks the title to prosecute was not convincing.
“As the complaint was only made in argument and then in reply, Mr Downer did not have an opportunity to respond thereto. I accordingly also did not have the benefit of the issue having been dealt with fully in the argument. In those circumstances, I consider that it will be improper to consider the request for any such a referral further in this judgment,” Judge Koen said in part when handing down his judgment.
However, Zuma immediately made clear his intention to appeal against Judge Koen’s judgment, setting up another legal showdown with Downer and the NPA.
Koen’s ruling was based on oral arguments which were made in court before Zuma upped the ante and pressed criminal charges against Downer at the Pietermaritzburg police station.
In the criminal case which is now being probed by the SAPS, the spokesperson of the Jacob Zuma Foundation, Mzwanele Manyi, said the former head of state and his legal team had been kept abreast of developments.
He added that the NPA had appointed a team to see whether the matter should be referred for prosecution or not.
“The matter is being handled by an investigation officer. He has been in constant touch with the attorney of President Zuma. Apparently, a multidisciplinary task team under the guidance of the National Directorate of Public Prosecutions (NDPP) has been appointed to ensure that the matter is properly investigated so that a determination can be made whether to prosecute or not.
“The foundation is very concerned with the snail’s pace of proceedings because all the pertinent information implicating Downer is well documented. We hope that the comments by the NDPP Office on the day of filing this case where they already declared Downer not guilty will not hamper the investigation,” Manyi said about the matter in December last year.
Even if Judge Koen turns down Zuma’s application to appeal, he still has the option of directly approaching the Supreme Court of Appeal and arguing the matter there.