Nicholson judgment 'erroneous'

2009-01-12 11:42

Bloemfontein - The Supreme Court of Appeal delivered a scathing judgment against Judge Chris Nicholson on Monday, describing his finding of political meddling in the Jacob Zuma corruption case as "erroneous", "unwarranted" and "incomprehensible".

The court upheld an appeal by the National Director of Public Prosecutions against a high court ruling that halted the prosecution of ANC leader Jacob Zuma.

This means that Zuma, the front-runner for the presidency in the upcoming elections, will still have to face corruption charges.

Judge Nicholson slammed

Acting Deputy Judge President Louis Harms said that political meddling was not an issue that had to be determined. "Nevertheless a substantial part of his judgment dealt with this question. He changed the rules of the game, he took his eyes off the ball."

Harms said Nicholson's finding that he could not exclude the possibility of political meddling in the decision to re-charge Zuma was "incomprehensible", that he erred in his judgment and that his findings were "unwarranted".

He said Nicholson had overstepped the limits of his duty as a judge.

His findings ultimately led to the axing of former president Thabo Mbeki.

"The [findings] involving Dr [Penuell] Maduna, Mr Mbeki and all the other members of cabinet ... were not based on any evidence or allegations. They were instead part of the judge's own conspiracy theory and not one advanced by Mr Zuma," said Harms.

Ruling

Harms started delivering his judgment at 10:00 on Monday in the appeal lodged by the National Director of Public Prosecutions against the Nicholson ruling on September 12 last year.

The Bloemfontein court had to rule on mainly two aspects in the appeal.

The first was whether Zuma was entitled to make representations before the NDPP decided to re-charge him with corruption and fraud in December 2007, 10 days after Zuma beat Mbeki in the ANC leadership race.

The second was whether Nicholson was correct in implying in his September 2008 judgment there was political meddling by Mbeki in the decision to charge Zuma.

- SAPA