Former president Jacob Zuma and French arms company Thales have been dealt a legal blow after the Pietermaritzburg High Court ruled that their corruption trial will proceed.
The crucial matter returned to the Pietermaritzburg High Court on Wednesday.
Judge Nkosinathi Chili handed down judgment on their application for leave to appeal the court’s earlier decision dismissing their application to have the charges dropped.
Judgement
Zuma and Thales sought a permanent stay of prosecution, claiming that the prolonged delays had infringed their right to a fair trial.
In February 2025, Thales cited lengthy delays that have resulted in an “irremediable infringement of its constitutional rights to a fair trial” in an application to have charges against it dropped and to be acquitted.
Thales sought an order halting the NPA from pursuing the corruption and racketeering case against it.
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Supporting application
In April, Zuma filed an affidavit that supported the application brought by Thales on 5 February 2025, seeking to be acquitted on the basis that the state “misconstrued Thales’ cause of action as being based on an infringement of its right to have its trial begin and conclude without unreasonable delays.”
Thales contends that its defence has been severely compromised by the deaths of two key witnesses — former directors Pierre Moynot and Alain Thétard — who both lived in South Africa during the arms deal period. Moynot died in January 2021, and Thétard in Germany in September 2022. The company only obtained formal confirmation of their deaths in late 2021 and in 2024, respectively.
Ruling
However, in June Judge Chili ruled that the court had no authority to withdraw charges and was not convinced that the accused would suffer irreparable prejudice.
Arms deal
It is the state’s case that Zuma was kept on a corrupt retainer by his former financial advisor, Schabir Shaik, who then used his political clout to further his own business interests.
The National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) also claimed that Shaik facilitated a R500 000-a-year bribe for Zuma from French arms company Thales in exchange for his “political protection” from a potentially damaging arms deal inquiry.
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