While you were asleep: More fighting talk from Zuma as corruption trial resumes

Former president Jacob Zuma will head to the Pietermaritzburg High Court today in what will be the long-awaited resumption of his corruption trial alongside French arms dealer Thales. The corruption case relates to a controversial multi-billion rand arms deal struck back in the 1990s.

But Zuma isn’t done fighting the court just yet and will seek a postponement of the trial when he enters the courtroom today. Zuma’s legal team are seeking an indefinite postponement of his trial and a denial of such a postponement by judge Piet Koen “would be fundamentally and patently unjust” and violate Zuma’s constitutional right to a fair trial, according to the legal team.

Zuma’s lawyers in court filings contend that the former president was entitled to have his trial delayed so that he could fight for his fair trial rights in other courts.

The former president’s lawyers have also warned Judge Koen that the unrest and rioting that unfolded last July after Zuma was sentenced to prison for failure to appear before the State Capture Commission, could spark another spat of protesting and violence if the trial is not postponed.

While Zuma in no way condones the violence that broke out, his legal team says it is, “[A]n open secret that the series of events were partly motivated or sparked, to whatever extent, by a sense of public outrage at perceived injustice and special treatment of Mr Zuma before the law in breach of section 9(1) of the Constitution [which states that everyone is equal before the law].”

What’s more, yesterday the Jacob Zuma Foundation said it would try to privately prosecute the state’s lead prosecutor in the corruption trial, Billy Downer. Zuma’s lawyers had previously demanded that NPA boss Shamila Batohi remove Downer as the lead prosecutor in the case, accusing Downer of bias and misconduct.

The move comes after the NPA declined to prosecute Downer last week, calling the attempts by Zuma’s legal team to remove Downer from the case an “intimidating and delaying tactic on the part of Mr Zuma’s lawyers.”

The NPA for its part is ready to proceed with the trial and has its witnesses lined up to testify.

“We will oppose any application for a postponement because any further delay is not in the best interests of any party,” said NPA spokesperson Mthunzi Mhaga.

In the markets, the new week begins much the same as last week with the dollar in the ascendency as US bond yields continue to rise sharply. The rand continues to show some strength and is trading unchanged from Friday’s closing level of R14.67/$.

On the commodity front, gold and platinum closed 0.7% and 1.3% higher on Friday but palladium was the top performer, surging 8.3%.

“The jump was caused by the London Platinum and Palladium market, which suspended two big Russian market participants, so they will no longer take deliveries from them nor give them sponge accreditation. This was followed by the CME Group in the US following suit. There is speculation that this could happen on the Osaka exchange in Japan as well,” comments TreasuryONE.

Gold is currently trading softer at $1,942, platinum is up at $983, and palladium continues to rise and is up a further 2.8% at $2,495. Brent closed at $102.80 last week and is currently trading slightly lower at $100.40 this morning with the Chinese government extending the Covid-19 lockdown in Shanghai.