The world is waiting for the latest episode in the American legal battle between Donald Trump and the courts. South Africans are both bemused and amused by the similarities with the protracted battle between the courts and ex-President Jacob Zuma. And while the attacks by Trump on the District Attorneys, the Grand Jury, and the prosecutors are read widely, the Zuma trials and ancillary hearings show interesting similarities. 

Jacob Zuma fought against the Apartheid regime and rose to lead the intelligence services of the then-exiled African National Congress (ANC). After Democracy, with the ANC in power, Zuma served in various positions and, in 1997, was appointed Deputy President of South Africa. However, in 2005, he was removed from this position when his financial adviser, Schabir Shaik, was convicted of corruption with Jacob Zuma in an arms deal implicating, amongst others, the French firm Thales. Interestingly Shaik was soon released on medical parole on the grounds of terminal illness and is still regularly seen playing golf. Miracles happen. 

Zuma was soon after, in June 2005, charged with corruption, and this case is still dragging through the courts. In the meantime, Zuma gathered populist forces in the ANC behind him and, in December 2007, challenged the incumbent President Mbeki at a Party Congress. The result of this palace coup was that Zuma became President of South Africa until February 2018. During this time, the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) decided to drop the charges of corruption. President Zuma was, however, embroiled in a number of questionable business dealings involving a number of State-owned enterprises, as well as several sexual scandals. 

In February 2016, the Pretoria High Court ruled that the NPA had acted irrationally and reinstated the charges against Zuma. Also, in 2014, the Public Protector found that Zuma had benefited from public funds in the building of his homestead at Nkandla in the Zulu heartland. This charge led to a Judicial Enquiry, and Zuma, at first, agreed to testify, then refused, earning him an indictment for Contempt of Court. Attempts to arrest him lead to widespread public violence and to Zuma receiving a medical parole on the grounds of terminal illness. He, too, has recovered miraculously and was seen dancing at a public event soon after. 

To date, Zuma has avoided his day in court by claiming that the original police raid to obtain evidence was unlawful and that the charges against him were unconstitutional and unlawful due to political interference and procedural error. This was overruled on appeal. An application for a permanent stay of prosecution was dismissed in October 2019.

In May 2021, Zuma claimed that the prosecutor had to recuse himself since he was biased, earning him another year of delay. Lately, Zuma claimed that the prosecutor and a journalist published his confidential medical information, although this, as court documents, was public. 

Two ex-Presidents, two Stalingrad campaigns to stay one step ahead of the law. Stand by for the next, exciting episode!