The Constitutional Court (ConCourt) has dismissed former president Jacob Zuma’s bid to force to overturn a high court ruling that former head of the Supreme Court of Appeal Mandisa Maya grossly misdirected herself by refusing to reconsider his bid to force the removal of prosecutor Billy Downer from his corruption trial.
Zuma had asked the ConCourt to grant him leave to appeal Judge Piet Koen’s dismissal, in the KwaZulu-Natal High Court in Pietermaritzburg, of his special plea to the Supreme Court of Appeal.
Special plea
Koen dismissed the former president’s special plea application to remove Downer from prosecuting his corruption case as Zuma sought to challenge Downer’s title to prosecute on the basis that he was biased.
ALSO READ: Zuma lodges private prosecution proceedings against Downer and journalist
The Jacob Zuma Foundation tweeted on Thursday that Zuma can exercise his right to appeal the adverse decision of the High Court directly to the Constitutional Court but did not say if he would do so.
The Constitutional Court has confirmed that yes indeed, the adverse decision of the Judge President of the SCA is appealable.
Furthermore, H.E Prez Zuma can exercise his right to appeal the adverse decision of the High Court directly to the Constitutional Court.
AlutaContinua. pic.twitter.com/ciFgnxXSbW— JGZuma Foundation (Official) (@JGZ_Foundation) September 28, 2022
Zuma is due back in court on 17 October.
Private prosecution
The former president has launched private prosecution against Downer, and News24 journalist, Karyn Maughan.
The duo are challenging it as an abuse of court process.
Downer reportedly wants Zuma to put up an additional R1 million as security for legal costs should the former president’s private prosecution against him fail.
The former president who received a private prosecution certificate from the NPA in June, claims Downer leaked his confidential medical records to Maughan, which were later published by the news website.
Alleged leak
The alleged leak related to a letter written by Brigadier Mcebisi Mdutywa last year, when Zuma was imprisoned at Estcourt Correctional Centre in KwaZulu-Natal for being in contempt of court, after he refused to appear before the state capture commission.
In his letter to prison authorities, Mdutywa said Zuma had suffered a “traumatic injury” in November 2020, and needed “extensive emergency treatment” with six months to recover
The matter is expected to be heard on 10 October 2022.
ALSO READ: Sanef: Zuma private prosecution on journo an ‘attack on media freedom’