- Former president Jacob Zuma is taking his bid to prosecute President Cyril Ramaohosa to the Constitutional Court privately
- Zuma wants the ConCourt to overturn Ramaphosa's interim interdict granted on 16 January
- The former president claims that his constitutional rights are being infringed upon because he is being denied the right to prosecute Ramaphosa
JOHANNESBURG - The legal battle between former president Jacob Zuma and President Cyril Ramaphosa is heading to the Constitutional Court.
Zuma's legal team has applied a leave to appeal application in a bid to have Ramaphosa's interim interdict of the former president's private prosecution bid overturned.
The former president issued Ramaphosa with a summons in December last year, accusing the president of being an accessory after the fact in the alleged crimes of state advocate Billy Downer and Karyn Maughan, News24 reported.
Zuma claims Ramaphosa's interdict strips him of his constitutional rights
Zuma approached the ConCourt instead of the Supreme Court of Appeal because he claimed that his rights were being infringed upon by being deprived of his right to prosecute Ramaphosa.
The former president argued that it was in the "interest of justice" that the highest court in South Africa hears his application, The Citizen reported.
Zuma added that Ramaphosa's "refusal" to appear before his private prosecution "tramples on the administration of justice" and sets a dangerous precedent for public and private prosecutions.
What does Zuma want out of the Constitutional Court?
According to Zuma's application, the former president is hoping that the ConCourt will overturn the interim interdict and replace it with “the application is dismissed with costs”.
Zuma also wants Ramaphosa to pay for the costs of the leave to appeal application if he plans to oppose it.
Zuma’s private prosecution postponed again, SA furious: “Our judiciary is a circus”
In a related story, Briefly News reported that South Africans had had enough of former president Jacob Zuma's private prosecution of State Advocate Billy Downer and journalist Karyn Maughan.
The KwaZulu-Natal High Court in Pietermaritzburg decided to postpone the case to 4 August in under one minute, sending citizens over the edge.
South Africans are now wondering if the justice system has become a playground for SA's elite to flex their power.
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