Zuma guns for Downer

FORMER president Jacob Zuma yesterday officially opened two charges of prosecutorial misconduct against advocate Billy Downer SC, one of the most senior prosecutors within the stable of the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA).

Should Zuma be successful in his quest to get Downer hauled over the coals for the alleged misconduct of leaking classified information about his arms deal corruption trial and his medical records, the prosecutor could be slapped with a fine or serve 15 years behind bars.

Yesterday, a smiling Zuma personally went to the Pietermaritzburg police station to open the charges.

Accompanied by, among others, his bodyguards, daughter Duduzile and the spokesperson of the Jacob Zuma Foundation, Mzwanele Manyi, the former president spent almost an hour undergoing all the formalities of laying criminal charges in one of the rooms in the police station in Pietermaritzburg.

Smiling and waving to the throngs of workers and people at the police station, Zuma briefly spoke to the media while a handful of his supporters were standing on the sidelines waving placards calling for the arrest and prosecution of Downer.

Zuma said since he was “still a prisoner” he would not say much and left everything to Manyi and a member of his legal team to read out the charge sheet. “We were here to open a case against a prosecutor (Downer) … there is nothing more I can say, I am leaving… I am a prisoner,” Zuma said and left the police station.

According to the six-page charge sheet, Zuma accuses Downer of breaching section 41(6) of the NPA Act, which prohibits disclosing of information without the permission of the national director.

He alleges that the leaking of his medical records in August this year was not new as in 2008, information related to his corruption trial was leaked to another journalist and foreign spies.

“The purpose of bringing the information contained in this affidavit to the attention of the police is to initiate a process which must necessarily lead to the prosecution of the suspects, failing which a certificate to the contrary must be duly issued by the National Director of Public Prosecutions, who is incidentally the person ultimately responsible for the deployment of the suspects.

“The criminal violations set out in the attached documents should serve as a useful basis of determining the scope of criminal investigation that the SAPS may conduct in this complaint and the inclusion of further suspects and/or accomplices,” Zuma said in part of his affidavit.

Defending Downer, the NPA quickly issued a statement and said it has noted with concern that Zuma has laid the charges.

The prosecuting body said it still has confidence in Downer and his record as a prosecutor speaks for him.

“The NPA is committed to upholding due process and the rule of law and will assess the merits of the charges in an objective manner.

“We also note that these charges are laid while the matter is subject to judicial determination by the high court in Pietermaritzburg and judgment is expected to be delivered on October 26.”