SA Court dismisses Zuma’s bid to privately prosecute Ramaphosa

A South African court on Wednesday declared unlawful and unconstitutional an attempt by former president Jacob Zuma to institute a private prosecution of President Cyril Ramaphosa over an alleged leak of his medical records.

The Gauteng High Court in Johannesburg ruled that Zuma had no legal basis to privately prosecute Ramaphosa.

Zuma initiated private prosecutions against Ramaphosa on the eve of the ANC‘s national elective conference in December 2022, accusing his successor of being an “accessory after the fact” in a criminal offence involving his dispute with state prosecutor Billy Downer.

Zuma accused Downer – the lead prosecutor in his arms deal corruption trial – of violating the law by allegedly leaking his confidential medical information to the media in August 2021.

He accused Ramaphosa of failing to act after he complained that Downer had behaved improperly.

The court, however, ruled that Zuma’s case was motivated by vindictiveness.

The judges said Zuma brought the private prosecution against Ramaphosa “for an ulterior purpose in what amounts to an abuse of this court’s process”.

“Therefore, he lacks a peculiar and substantial interest in the issue of the private prosecution instituted against Mr Ramaphosa,” the court ruled.

It added: “The charges would not lead to a conviction as they are grounded on conduct that does not constitute a criminal offence. Therefore, the private prosecution constitutes an abuse of process.”

The court also found that the summons issued against Ramaphosa were “unlawful, invalid and unconstitutional”.