- Former president Jacob Zuma is privately prosecuting prosecutor advocate Billy Downer and News24 legal specialist journalist Karyn Maughan.
- Maughan has filed an urgent application against Zuma, asking the Pietermaritzburg High Court to scrap the private prosecution in its entirety.
- News24 takes a look at what the case is about and what has happened so far?
On Monday, 10 October, former president Jacob Zuma appeared in thePietermaritzburg High Court to privately prosecute prosecutor advocate BillyDowner and News24 legal specialist journalist Karyn Maughan.
What is the case about?
Zuma claims Downer and Maughan contravened a section of the NationalProsecuting Authority (NPA) Act, that prohibits NPA employees from disclosingprivate documents to members of the public. Members of the NPA who leak privatedocuments could face imprisonment of up to 15 years if convicted.
Which documents did Maughan receive?
Ahead of a court appearance in Zuma's corruption trial, at the time ofhis imprisonment in Estcourt Prison, his military doctor, Mcebisi Mdutywa,wrote a letter to the State, saying Zuma had to be transported to Pretoria forurgent medical surgery after suffering a "traumatic injury" a yearbefore.
The letter was attached to both the State and Zuma's court papers to beheard in court on 10 August 2021, for a postponement.
The previous day, Maughan asked the State's counsel, Andrew Breitenbach,for a copy of the papers. After electronically filing their papers with court,Breitenbach sent Maughan a copy of the papers late in the afternoon of 9August.
READ | Adriaan Basson: Zuma vs Maughan - Media freedom goes ontrial
Did Maughan publish Zuma's medical records?
No. On the morning of 10 August, Maughan published a story on News24,quoting both sets of court papers and the Mdutywa letter, that was also placedin the public record by Zuma's own lawyer. The letter is not a medical record.It is merely a doctor's note, informing the court of Zuma's transportation to aPretoria hospital for urgency surgery following a "traumatic injury"he suffered in the past.
Why were there two cases on Monday?
Maughan has filed an urgent application against Zuma, asking thePietermaritzburg High Court to scrap the private prosecution in its entiretybecause of three major reasons.
First, Zuma did not obtain a nolleprosequi certificate against Maughan (unlike with Downer); second,Zuma is abusing the court process to intimidate, harass and bully Maughan toprevent her from further reporting on Zuma's corruption case, and third, Zumadid not suffer any injury as a result of Maughan's published piece andtherefore doesn't have legal standing. This case is separate from the privateprosecution itself.
READ | William Bird: Attacks on journalist perpetuatedisinformation strategies and threaten democracy
What happened on Monday?
The parties agreed to postpone the private prosecution to 2 February2023, pending the finalisation of the other applications.
Downer has also filed an application asking for the prosecution to bescrapped. Downer and Maughan's cases will now be heard together on 8 and 9December this year. The South African National Editors' Forum, Campaign forFree Expression and Media Monitoring Africa have applied to be friends of thecourt, arguing the NPA Act was not intended to impugn media freedom.
What happens if Downer and Maughan's applications succeed?
Naturally, the private prosecution should no longer continue, but anyparty will be able to appeal the outcome of the hearing. This means the casescan still drag out for months, if not years before a private prosecutionfinally assumes, if at all.
Could this case further delay Zuma's corruptioncase?
Zuma is back in court next Monday (17 October), and his legal team will,without a doubt, argue for a further postponement of the case. The State isexpected to oppose the postponement, and Judge Piet Koen will be asked to makea decision. .
