The question of whether the pursuit of former President Jacob Zuma on corruption charges was politically motivated – argued strongly on the opening day of the KZN High Court (Pietermaritzburg) hearing of his application, and that of French arms company Thales, to have their prosecution stayed – was brought back into play late yesterday by Zuma’s legal counsel Muzi Sikhakhane, notes Legalbrief. Sikhakhane told the court he had a letter showing the NPA was still investigating the possibility of political interference in Zuma’s case by former President Thabo Mbeki and former Justice Minister Penuell Maduna as recently as March 2018. A Business Day report notes Zuma’s lawyers are fighting to introduce the letter, understood to have been written by former prosecutions boss Shaun Abrahams shortly after he decided to reinstate charges against Zuma, as evidence. The state objected to Sikhakhane reading the contents of Abrahams’ letter in which he allegedly asks the Hawks to conduct further investigations into accusations raised by Thales’ former lawyer Ajay Sooklal into the court record. Advocate Wim Trengove, for the state, argued that Zuma’s legal team would need to apply for the letter to be admitted into evidence. The court was adjourned to allow the state and the defence to discuss a possible resolution of the impasse, which could see the Abrahams letter either read out in court or thrown out as inadmissible.

Sooklal, meanwhile, has publicly confirmed he will be a state witness against Zuma and Thales, should the case against the pair proceed, says the Business Day report. In his affidavit to the Hawks, he reportedly claimed that Thales paid a €1m donation to the ANC, in exchange for the state dropping charges against it in October 2004. Sikhakhane contended that a letter emanating from the NPA specifically raised concerns about the role Maduna allegedly played in the dropping of charges against Thales, which resulted in the company not being charged with Zuma’s former financial adviser Schabir Shaik. This, Sikhakhane suggested, countered claims by the state that Maduna played a ‘minimal role’ in the Zuma prosecution, and showed that, as late as March 2018, the NPA had asked that allegations Maduna had received bribes be investigated. Business Day says it understands that Abrahams asked the Hawks to investigate a number of Sooklal’s claims under oath, including that Mbeki allegedly confirmed to Thales CEO Jean-Paul Perrier that former French President Jacques Chirac had discussed the company with him and that he would allegedly instruct Maduna and other senior ANC officials to look into the withdrawal of charges against the company. Sooklal also claimed Maduna was paid €50 000 for his role in getting the charges dropped.

How the disclosures about the mysterious letter came about is detailed in the Business Day report. It surfaced after legal counsel for the state faced questions about why former NDPP Bulelani Ngcuka did not pursue corruption charges against Thales after its representative Alain Thethard reneged on his agreement to co-operate with the state’s investigation into Shaik. Thethard had initially confirmed that he was the author of the so-called encrypted fax used to prove that Thales had agreed to a R500,000 a year bribe for Zuma, in exchange for his protection from any potential arms deal investigation. He retracted this evidence a month later. Judges Esther Steyn and Bhekisisa Mnguni questioned NPA legal counsel Andrew Breitenbach about why, given that the state knew long before the case against Shaik commenced that Thethard had been dishonest, it still chose not to pursue the company for corruption. Breitenbach argued that Ngcuka chose to honour the deal the state had with Thales, partly because of concerns that pursuing the company might result in delays in the Shaik prosecution.