South Africa’s Former President Jacob Zuma’s corruption case returns to the Pietermaritzburg High Court on Tuesday.
The trial was meant to get underway last month but wound up being postponed again, this time for the outcome of a petition Zuma made to the SCA judge president to reconsider his application for leave to appeal against the High Court’s dismissal of his special plea for state advocate Billy Downer’s removal from the case.
The SCA initially refused the application out of hand.
The case was postponed to Tuesday as a holding date and Zuma is not expected to be at court.
In granting the postponement last month, Judge Piet Koen adjourned proceedings to Tuesday but only to establish the current status of Zuma’s petition to the SCA judge president.
He ordered that if it had been disposed of by Tuesday, the trial would then resume at 10 am on 31 May and continue for the remainder of the court year.
If it hadn’t, meanwhile, he ordered that a new holding date and a new date for continuation of the trial would be determined on Tuesday.
He further excused both Zuma and his co-accused in the case, French arms dealer Thales, from attending court on Tuesday or on any future holding dates.
