Jacob Zuma South Africa's President and the state prosecutor launched an appeal on Friday against a High Court ruling to reinstate 783 corruption charges against the head of state.
(NPA) The National Prosecuting Authority set aside the charges against Zuma in 2009, allowing him to participate for president that same year, but the High Court this May 2009 ordered a review of that decision, terming it as "irrational".
The case has reemerged in the run-up to local government elections in August that should be a stern test for the ruling African National Congress (ANC) as opposition parties gain support on the back of Zuma's perceived failures and scandals.
Jacob Zuma's office said the High Court made a mistake in saying, "the National Director of Public Prosecutions was not entitled to terminate a prosecution, on the basis of misconduct & abuse of the process".
The NPA's decision in 2009 was based on phone intercepts presented by Jacob Zuma's legal team, that made a suggestion that the timing of the charges may have been part of a political plot against Jacob Zuma.
The state prosecutor is appealing the ruling on the grounds, that the law allowed him the discretion to decide when to lay charges, & that the court ruling could dilute the NPA's powers.
Should the appeal fail & the charges be reinstated, it would be the latest political setback for Jacob Zuma after he was ordered by the Constitutional Court to pay back some of 11 million pounds, in state money spent upgrading his private home.
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