President Cyril Ramaphosa has reiterated in court papers filed on Tuesday that Jacob Zuma’s attempt to privately prosecute him is mistaken in law, and stated the old president failed in his like court submissions to severely dispute his court narrate to the summons served on him in December.

Ramaphosa responded to the summons by calling it a stunt designed to stymie his re-election as president of the ANC and by submitting a two-segment software to the Johannesburg court. 

He is asking the court to space aside the internal most prosecution as unlawful and unconstitutional, but as a predominant step is looking out for an interdict to terminate any longer efforts in this course by his predecessor.

In his replying affidavit to Zuma’s politically-charged answering affidavit, Ramaphosa stated the old president did himself a disservice by intentionally framing the case made for atmosphere aside the summons as essentially essentially based solely on the argument that the internal most prosecution change into once pursued with an ulterior reason and unfriendly motive.

This change into once now not appropriate and intended that Zuma had did now not take care of the principal reasons the summons ought to be space aside.

“The outcomes of the principle respondent’s approach is that the core grounds on which I narrate the summons haven’t been seriously disputed.”

What Zuma did change into once attempt to equate Ramaphosa’s argument that the summons served on him on the eve of the ANC’s elective convention change into once an abuse of course of for an ulterior political reason, alongside with his like historic previous of claiming that his prosecution for palms deal corruption change into once politically motivated.

In his like case, Zuma stated, the nation’s very best courts held that a prosecution is maybe now not halted purely because it change into once initiated with unfriendly motive. It may maybe well well well only be deemed wrongful if, aside from the impugned motive, there had been no grounds for prosecution.

He then went on to notify that Ramaphosa change into once looking out for special treatment from the justice draw by advancing an argument “no diversified from that of mine extra than a decade ago”. The narrate of unfriendly motive ought to be decided by a criminal court, he stated, and the excessive court, which is decided to hear the president’s software on Thursday, had no jurisdiction in the subject.

But Ramaphosa identified that he has accused Zuma of ulterior reason, now not unfriendly motive.

“An right reading of my affidavit reveals that I maintain alleged ulterior reason and never unfriendly motive. The circumstances that the principle respondent depends upon on unfriendly motive are inappropriate,” he wrote.

The courts maintain held that an ulterior reason can invalidate a criminal prosecution, and the excessive court had the authority to search out out this.

The crime Zuma alleges is that Ramaphosa change into once an accent after the fact to the wrongful disclosure of a scientific showcase filed by a navy doctor in his palms deal case. On this regard, he has initiated a internal most prosecution towards Billy Downer, the affirm prosecutor in that trial, and journalist Karyn Maughan, alleging that this scientific sage change into once disclosed with out the written permission of the national director of the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA).

The sage change into segment of the general public court file when Zuma’s legal professionals filed it with out claiming confidentiality.

A prerequisite for a internal most prosecution is a nolle prosequi certificates from the NPA confirming that it has declined to prosecute a fee towards a particular particular person. Zuma obtained a 2nd such certificates in November final year, but it doesn’t present a fee or the title of any particular person accused. 

Ramaphosa stated this is with out doubt one of many deadly flaws of the prosecution teach. 

“The summons had been issued with out a sound nolle prosequi certificates that relates to me and a fee towards me,” he stated.

He extra notes that the alleged crime change into once committed on 9 August 2021 — the date when the media change into once given salvage entry to to the doctor’s letter. But the fee he is looking out for to bring towards the president relates to his alleged failure to act on a Zuma criticism made to him — at a later stage — that Downer had acted improperly.

“It’s miles practically very unlikely that I’ll maybe well well want committed the crime of accent after the fact or defeating the ends of justice on 9 August 2021, earlier than the seek recordsdata from change into once made to me to intervene,” he stated.

“This capacity that, the nolle prosequi certificates for crimes allegedly committed on 9 August 2021 can not be old to narrate summons for crimes that I allegedly committed after 25 August 2021.”

Zuma clearly alleged in his affidavit that “the accent crime change into once committed after 25 August 2021”, but this can not be, Ramaphosa stated.

The result change into once that the summons change into once issued with out a certificates “that relates to me and a fee towards me. The summons and the internal most prosecution are invalid for this motive on my own.”

The certificates itself, which Zuma has read as blanket hide so as to add extra accused in the internal most prosecution he initiated towards Downer, is void for vagueness and an irrational exercise of vitality on the segment of the director of public prosecutions who signed it, the president stated.

Ramaphosa stated he change into once also now not afforded an different to produce written or oral submissions earlier than the document change into once issued.

“The result is that I maintain established a solid or noteworthy prima facie case for the analysis or atmosphere aside of the summons beneath segment B.”

He added that Zuma’s makes an attempt to hark lend a hand to his like woes with the law had been “emotive and possess fraudulent political innuendos that are likely to be now not relevant to the crisp concerns” in the brand new case.

That is also heard by a plump bench of the excessive court.

In terms of Zuma’s allegation that Ramaphosa did now not act on his plea that he take care of unfriendly habits on Downer’s segment, the president stated he responded by referring it to Justice Minister Ronald Lamola, who has last oversight over the NPA. 

He knowledgeable Lamola to refer the subject to the Honest Discover Council, noting that he had neither the vitality nor any draw to intervene with the independence of the NPA.