The private prosecution case brought by former South African president Jacob Zuma against Billy Downer and Karyn Maughan has been postponed to 4 August 2023.
This is to allow the court to hear Downer and Maughan’s applications to have the case dismissed.
In September last year, Zuma served the two with orders to appear in court for a private prosecution.
Zuma claims that Maughan and Downer leaked and published confidential medical records, breaching the National Prosecuting Authority Act (NPA).
The KwaZulu-Natal High Court in Pietermaritzburg postponed the case in less than a minute. This was to accommodate Maughan’s application to have the private prosecution set aside.
Downer also launched his application to have the private prosecution declare an abuse of court processes.
This is the latest attempt by him to stall his corruption case linked to the 1999 arms deal. Zuma and French company Thales are accused of corruption, racketeering, and money laundering.
Maughan claims that he is abusing the court process to intimidate, harass and bully her to prevent her from reporting on Zuma’s corruption case any further.
She listed three reasons why the case should be postponed. One is to point out the fact that he did not obtain a nolle prosequi certificate against her.
A nolle prosequi certificate is a document that states the NPA does not intend to prosecute someone. This is a key factor for a private prosecution.
Zuma also launched a separate private prosecution against President Cyril Ramaphosa. He accused Ramaphosa of failing to act on a complaint that he filed against Downer.
Last month, Ramaphosa got an interdict to stall the proceedings. This application is to state that the proceedings are unlawful.
The application will be heard in May.
