South Africa Supreme Court Rules Against Zuma In Corruption Charges
South Africa's Supreme Court of Appeal on Monday reversed a decision to dismiss corruption charges against ruling party chief Jacob Zuma, clouding his presidential hopes in this year's elections.

The move clears the way for Zuma to once again face prosecution, but the African National Congress (ANC) said after the ruling that he remains the party's presidential candidate in polls expected as early as April.

But the decision complicates the ANC's election campaign as the party faces a new political challenge from a breakaway party created in the fallout of the Zuma case, which has roiled South African politics for years.

Judge Louis Harms, the court's deputy president, handed down a scathing verdict overturning a lower court ruling that had tossed out the charges against Zuma. The earlier ruling had also implied that former president Thabo Mbeki had meddled in the case.

"Political meddling was not an issue that had to be determined," Harms said as he read out the verdict in a nationally televised hearing.

"Nevertheless, a substantial part of his judgment dealt with this question and in the course of this discussion, it changed the rules of the game. It took his eyes off the ball," Harms said.

The earlier ruling by judge Chris Nicholson failed "to distinguish between allegation, fact and suspicion," Harms said, saying the lower court had made "gratuitous findings."

Nicholson had tossed out the charges on a technicality, saying that prosecutors had a constitutional obligation to speak to Zuma before proceeding with the case.

Harms said that prosecutors had not violated Zuma's rights in taking the case forward.

"Mr Zuma relies on self-created expectations based on his own perceptions of the law and the facts which have always been in dispute," the judge said.

The ANC had used Nicholson's findings to sack Mbeki, sparking a split within the former liberation movement that spearheaded the struggle against apartheid.

Senior ANC members frustrated by Mbeki's sacking have now launched their own party called the Congress of the People, which is gearing up to challenge the elections.

Political analyst Dirk Kotze said the judgement would now loom over the election campaign, especially if prosecutors decide to move quickly with the case against Zuma.

"There are definitely going to be political considerations and a decision to prosecute will have big political ramifications," Kotze said.

Zuma had faced charges ranging from money-laundering to racketeering in a long-running corruption investigation dating back to 2001, which saw the accusations dropped then revived.

http://www.independentngonline.com/bnew/article01