Former South African President Jacob Zuma looks on in the High Court in Pietermaritzburg, on May 20, 2019 during his trial for alledged corruption. - Former South African president Jacob Zuma arrived in court on May 20 as he fights to have corruption charges against him over 1990s arms deal dropped before the case comes to trial.
“The litigation endured for almost 14 years without interruption, barring one month. He lost all of those cases,” Trengove said. The defence teams for Zuma and Thales made their submissions on Monday and Tuesday, respectively, on why the case should be permanently dropped, citing, among other reasons, an unreasonable delay in prosecution, which they said was unconstitutional.
Shaik was found guilty and subsequently sentenced for making “regular, corrupt payments” to Zuma between 1995 and 2002. Some of these were allegedly from Thales, to keep the company away from the ongoing probe into the arms deal and to look favourably on the firm in any future contracts.