Legal journalist Karyn Maughan’s application challenging former president Jacob Zuma’s private prosecution has been adjourned until December.
Maughan has launched an urgent court application to set aside the prosecution, while state prosecutor, Billy Downer has also filed a similar application.
Zuma has accused Downer and Maughan of allegedly breaching of the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) Act for the alleged leak of his private medical records.
Security
The Pietermaritzburg High Court on Monday was informed the Zuma has deposited R500,000 in order to pursue the private prosecution.
It was previously reported that Downer wanted Zuma to put up an additional R1 million to the R90,000 he had already deposited to the High Court as security.
“It is recorded that the review application pertaining to the amount deposited by the private prosecutor, Mr Zuma, as security for costs has been settled and that application is therefore struck from the roll,” Judge Nkosinathi Chili ruled.
Ordinary roll
Regarding Downer and Maughan’s applications challenging the prosecution, Zuma’s legal representative , advocate Dali Mpofu told the court that the parties have agreed that these matters be heard on 8 and 9 December, while the private prosecution case itself be heard in 2023.
This is if the bid to have the private prosecution set aside fails.
“By agreement with the parties, it would then be postponed to 2nd of February 2023 and that is at least from our point intended to create sufficient time so that there will be a judgment in the civil matters, Mpofu said.
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However, Steven Budlender, legal representative for Maughan, argued that there was no agreement that the matters should be heard on the ordinary roll.
“They are not consolidated, they are going to be heard together and there is agreement that we will ask the Judge President to allocate a judge to hear them on the 8th and 9th of December at the same time.
“And there is that the criminal matter can then stand until the 2nd of February 2023. There is not agreement that the matters should be heard on the ordinary roll quite the contrary as my learned friend says… the agreement is that it should be heard for two days,” he told the court.
‘Extremely urgent’
Budlender further said that the notion that Maughan no longer asserted urgency was “equally incorrect”.
“Ms Maughan’s position is that is extremely urgent and she wishes to have it heard as soon as possible because her case, as it appears on the papers, is that he application has been brought for the sole purpose of harassing her, intimidating her and preventing her from doing her job. Of course Mr Zuma disputes that and he is entitled to dispute that, but that is Ms Maughan’s case,” he said.
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As a practical matter because the urgent judge couldn’t hear the matter this morning because he had a conflict of interest that is the reason the matter has not been removed from the roll, but has been stood down. It was purely as a practicality agreed to postpone the case to December,” Budlender added.
Following a brief adjournment, Judge Chili postponed the case to the agreed date.
“Mr Downer and Ms Maughan, you are warned to appear in this court on the 2nd of February 2023 at 9:30 in the morning,” he ruled after consultation with the Acting Judge President.
