afrol News, 16 September - South Africa's opposition leader Helen Zille has threatened to take ruling African National Congress (ANC) president Jacob Zuma to court, should state prosecutors not recharge him on corruption.

This follows a high court ruling last week that charges against Mr Zuma should be dismissed, on basis that decision to charge him was believed to be politically motivated.

Democratic Alliance (DA) leader reportedly said South African president Thabo Mbeki had to answer suggestions his government had tried to influence Mr Zuma's case.

Mr Mbeki is said to have denied any such interference at weekend.

"We've never interfered with decisions of National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) to say prosecute this one, don't prosecute the other one," SA media reports quote him as saying.

Mr Zuma was charged last December, shortly after he had beaten Mr Mbeki to presidency of ANC party.

Ms Zille reportedly said her party had written to speaker of national assembly to ask for parliament to be reconvened so that Mr Mbeki could explain himself.

"Unless he can convincingly rebut judge's opinion this will constitute grounds for his removal from office," she was quoted as saying today in Cape Town.

Charges against Mr Zuma are related to South Africa's largest post-apartheid arms deal, involving contracts totaling US$3.7 billion, to modernise its national defence force, and involving companies from Germany Italy, Sweden, Britain, France and South Africa.

Mr Zuma was sacked as South Africa's deputy president in 2005, when his financial adviser was found guilty of soliciting a bribe on behalf of Mr Zuma and jailed for 15 years in connection with same deal.

He then went on trial, but case collapsed in 2006 when prosecution said it was not ready to proceed.

He was charged again last December shortly after winning a bitter campaign against president Mbeki to become ANC leader in what his allies say was a political conspiracy to prevent him from becoming president.

In April 2006, Mr Zuma was acquitted of rape in a separate case, though he was widely criticised for comments about sex and HIV/AIDS.

As ANC leader, Mr Zuma is strong favourite to become SA's next president, after elections in 2009.

By staff writer

© afrol News

Related pages and feature

Current afrol News Top Stories