Zuma's private prosecution of Downer & Maughan suffers another blow

JOHANNESBURG - The Pietermaritzburg High Court has ordered that its ruling setting aside former President Jacob Zuma’s private prosecution of State advocate, Billy Downer, and journalist, Karyn Maughan, is immediately enforceable despite the looming appeal bid.

Last September, Zuma served the two with summonses to appear in court for private prosecution over his claims that the State illegally leaked to Maughan what he deemed to be a confidential doctor’s note during the course of his arms deal corruption trial.• Zuma to appeal ‘bizarre’ judgment handed down in favour of Maughan and DownerDowner and Maughan have now secured a special order declaring the ruling immediately enforceable, though.

To secure the order they were after, Downer and Maughan had to show there were exceptional circumstances, as well as that they stood to suffer irreparable harm and that the former president didn’t.In a damning judgment, the court highlighted its previous ruling was "aimed at bringing an end to the abuse inherent in the private prosecution which abuse would continue if the execution order [was] not granted".

It also previously upheld the submission that the private prosecution was an extension of Zuma’s Stalingrad tactics and has now found this indeed constituted exceptional circumstances, finding further that Zuma’s criticism of the label was flawed considering his own legal representative - the late Kemp J Kemp - had himself described their defence in this way before and that the former president had never actually disavowed it.

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