Johannesburg – Unscrupulous efforts to get President Cyril Ramaphosa to “step aside” and not stand for reelection as the leader of the African National Congress (ANC) have so far failed dismally.
A day after suspended ANC secretary general Ace Magashule demanded that Ramaphosa step aside because he had been “charged” by former president Jacob Zuma in a “private prosecution”, the State Attorney dismissed the matter as folly.
Referring to former president Jacob Zuma’s “summons” sent to Ramaphosa to appear in court for allegedly failing to act against prosecutor Advocate Billy Downer, Magashule said the President “has been charged like me… he must step aside”.
RELATED: Ramaphosa Rejects Zuma’s Summons Move As ‘Abuse Of Legal Process’ – The Bulrushes
Assistant State Attorney, HN Mncube, (for the state attorney – Johannesburg) has written to Zuma’s lawyers, VN Attorneys Inc, to inform them that Ramaphosa was entitled to ignore the summons.
“On the face of it, the delivery and content of the document amount to be a violation of the integrity of the Constitutional institutions of the Republic of South Africa, a gross abuse of process and evidences multiple breaches of the Criminal Procedure Act of 1977 (the CPA),” wrote the state attorney.
“It is an act that in law may and must be ignored.”
The former president, who faces decades-old corruption charges related to the arms deal, has been trying to have Downer – whom he accused of leaking his medical records to the media – removed from the prosecution in his matter.
Zuma alleges in his private prosecution that his complaint about Downer to Ramaphosa was not acted upon, which he said makes the President guilty of a crime that carries a possible 15-year jail term.
However, in the letter dated 17 December 2022, the State Attorneys explain that the “alleged conduct does not constitute a criminal offence under South African law”.
Besides, the State Attorney said: “Your client (Zuma) does not have any title to prosecute”.
In addition, the State Attorney said: “The purported summons were served on the President a day before the 55h National Conference of the African National Congress was due to commence.
“It is common knowledge that the President will stand for reelection as a Presidential candidate.
“It appears the purported summons were served to halt this candidature. This is an abuse of process.”
The State Attorney told Zuma’s lawyers that the “summons may and must be ignored”.
The State Attorney added: “The President and those affected by the summons are entitled to ignore the purported summons.
“We thus call upon your client to withdraw the invalid summons on the basis that each party pays their costs.
“Should your client not do so by 19 December 2022, we reserve the right to take such further steps as may be required and shall seek punitive costs against your client for the wasteful costs arising therefrom.”
In a related development, the ANC’s Electoral Committee has dismissed attempts to disqualify President Ramaphosa over the Zuma summons, saying the matter was not relevant or considered “serious enough”.
