Zuma Supporters warns the NPA on re-charging Jacob Zuma

The Star News Online

Thursday, December 07, 2006

The National Prosecuting Authority is subjecting Jacob Zuma to the kangaroo court of public opinion with the help of the media. This is the view of the Friends of Jacob Zuma Trust in Gauteng, after reports in The Star that the state had given its strongest indication yet that it intended to recharge the ANC deputy president with corruption. The trust also warned that the NPA would face the might of those who supported Zuma should he be charged again. Noting that the timing was precisely when ANC structures were preparing for leadership nominations, Gauteng spokesperson for the trust Kaizer Mohau said: "We do not think this is purely a legal matter but is an ongoing ploy to ensure that comrade Jacob Zuma's political leadership is doubted by the public." The ANC Youth League said the NPA's conduct was not only prejudicial to Zuma, but was a clear demonstration and determination to find him guilty by hook or by crook. The NPA will make an application in the chambers of a Durban High Court judge on Tuesday for certain documents, crucial in the case against Zuma, to be released by the Mauritian High Court. NPA spokesperson Makhosini Nkosi was not available for comment. - Angela Quintal

While police searched for more suspects in the killing of Nonceba Mzondo (22), daughter of jazz great McCoy Mrubata, a 20-year-old Gugulethu man appeared in the Athlone Magistrate's Court yesterday on a charge of murder. With the help of an interpreter, magistrate Clive Erasmus asked Thembisile Nondzaba whether he would appoint his own attorney, accept the free assistance of a legal aid attorney or conduct his own defence. He replied: "There's nothing I can say about this case. There's nothing I know. I'm not guilty. They accused me. I didn't do it." Pushed to answer the questions, he said: "I understand what you are saying, but it wasn't me, your worship, and I don't want bail." Nondzaba said he would conduct his own defence. He changed his mind and opted for assistance from a Legal Aid attorney when prosecutor Xenie Rossouw said more charges - including one of rape - might be brought against him. This depended on the postmortem report. Nondzaba was arrested after Mzondo's body was found in the veld near her Gugulethu, Cape Town, home. Her eyes were gouged out and her skull fractured. Her beaten dog was found dead next to her. The case was postponed to Wednesday for Nondzaba to obtain an attorney. Yesterday, McCoy Mrubata said: "I'm not ready to talk. I still can't accept this. It hurts too much." - Staff Reporter