Zuko Komisa
- SCA Judges Dumisani Zondi and Baratang Mocumie ruled that Zuma’s application lacked any reasonable prospect of success or compelling reason to be heard.
- Zuma claimed that because his previous private prosecution of Downer was labeled “abusive” by courts, Downer would now be too biased to prosecute him fairly.
- The court maintained that the attempt to remove Downer was part of a “hopeless” legal strategy designed primarily to stall the former president’s corruption trial.
Former President Jacob Zuma’s long-standing legal battle to remove State Advocate Billy Downer from his corruption trial has hit another dead end.
For Zuma, this represents a significant blow to his strategy of challenging the impartiality of the man tasked with prosecuting him, as the Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) firmly closed the door on his latest challenge.
Zuma had previously attempted a private prosecution against Downer for allegedly leaking a medical note an action the courts ultimately branded an “abuse of process.”
In this latest appeal, Zuma’s legal team argued a unique logic: that the very fact the courts called his actions “abusive” gives him a “reasonable apprehension” that Downer will now be vengeful and biased during the trial.
The SCA was not convinced by this reasoning.
In a concise one-page order, the judges dismissed the application with costs, effectively reinforcing earlier findings that the private prosecution was a tactical move to delay justice rather than a pursuit of legal merit.
This ruling brings the focus back to the long-delayed arms deal corruption case.
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