Spy Tapes: why the DA is in court

The DA's application this morning in the Gauteng North High Court is to compel the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) to comply with the Supreme Court of Appeal's (SCA) April 2012 order to hand over the reduced record of the decision to discontinue the prosecution of Jacob Zuma.

The fact that the DA has to ask a court to compel the NPA to comply with an order of the SCA is an extraordinary circumstance in itself. We are confident that our application today will be successful.

We are pursuing this case today because we want to satisfy ourselves and the public that the NPA's decision in 2009 to drop fraud and corruption charges against Jacob Zuma was informed by legal and constitutional factors, rather than political expediency. 

The reduced record of that decision excludes any material that is protected by client confidentiality and as such the NPA has no reason not to comply with the SCA's order. 

We will continue this fight until the truth has been revealed. If there was any undue political influence in the NPA's prosecutorial decision making regarding its case against Jacob Zuma, the DA will push for that decision to be reviewed in court. 

Update: Spy Tapes: DA remains confident

Judgement has been reserved in the Gauteng North High Court in Pretoria this afternoon on the DA's application to compel the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) to comply with the Supreme Court of Appeal's (SCA) order in April 2012 to hand over the reduced record of the decision to discontinue the prosecution of Jacob Zuma.

We remain confident that our application will be successful.

We maintain that the reduced record excludes any material that is protected by client confidentiality. As such we are confident that the Court will rule in our favour in due course.

If the NPA's decision to discontinue its prosecution of Jacob Zuma in 2009 was based on legal and constitutional factors rather than political reasons, the record of its decision will reflect that. 
We will not rest until the truth has been revealed. If there was any undue political influence in the NPA's prosecutorial decision making regarding its case against Jacob Zuma, the DA will push for that decision to be reviewed in court.     

Statement issued by James Selfe MP, Chairperson of the DA Federal Executive, July 24 2013

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