South African prosecutors drop charges against Zuma

South African prosecutors dropped corruption charges Monday against ruling party presidential candidate Jacob Zuma, just 16 days ahead of parliamentary elections.

Zuma, president of the ruling African National Congress, is almost certain to become president after April 22 parliamentary elections, given the party’s political dominance. Lawmakers will select the nation’s new leader.

He was initially charged with corruption in 2005, when he was deputy president, over alleged bribes relating to a multibillion-dollar arms deal. Schabir Shaik, who represented the French arms company Thint, was Zuma’s financial advisor and allegedly paid him about $450,000 from 1995 to 2005. The charges have been dropped and reimposed several times.

Mokotedi Mpshe, head of the National Prosecuting Authority, said Monday that he was forced to drop the charges because of an “intolerable abuse” by the former head of the Scorpions anti-corruption agency, Leonard McCarthy, whom he accused of manipulating the timing of the prosecution. McCarthy is now vice president of integrity at the World Bank in Washington.

“Abuse of process which perverts the judicial or legal process offends against one’s sense of justice. Mr. McCarthy used the legal process for a purpose outside and extraneous to the prosecution itself,” Mpshe said. But he said the team handling the prosecution had acted properly at all times.

McCarthy could not be immediately reached for comment. The Scorpions, within the prosecuting authority, were disbanded by the African National Congress-led government after Zuma wrested control of the party from former President Thabo Mbeki.

Mpshe released intelligence tapes from 2007 of McCarthy discussing with Bulelani Ngcuka, a senior ANC member and his former boss at the prosecuting authority, about whether to refile charges against Zuma before or after an ANC conference in December of that year.

In one conversation, when McCarthy confirms Zuma would soon be charged, Ngcuka says, “You made my day.” In another, Ngcuka tells McCarthy that “you’re the only one who can save this country from this madness,” an apparent reference to Zuma’s ambition to be president.

Zuma defeated Mbeki for the party leadership at the 2007 conference and his supporters used their muscle to topple Mbeki as the nation’s president last September. The Zuma camp has long accused the Mbeki camp of trumping up charges against Zuma.

But Mpshe said there was no evidence Mbeki was involved in the decision over the timing of the charges.

The ANC released a statement saying the dropping of charges was a victory for the rule of law and was good for South Africa. “The inhumane and undignified treatment that Comrade Zuma suffered at the hands of our state prosecutors was not only disgraceful, it also brought our criminal justice into disrepute,” it said.

The decision came after weeks of speculation that the charges would be dropped, reportedly fueled by the Zuma camp. Helen Zille, leader of the opposition Democratic Alliance, accused Mpshe of caving in to political pressure.

“All indications are that the national director of public prosecutions has not taken a decision that is based in law but has buckled to political pressure,” she said.

She said that nothing in the phone tapes altered the 16 charges of corruption, fraud and racketeering against Zuma.

“That case must go to court,” she said. If those implicated in the telephone tapes are guilty of offenses, Zille said, they should be charged. Zille will file an application today for the High Court to review the decision.

Analysts said the dropping of charges left South Africa’s legal institutions weakened and tainted, undermining confidence in the rule of law.

“It might be a victory for Zuma and the ANC but it’s a setback for democracy,” said analyst William Gumede.

Paul Graham of the Institute for Democracy in South Africa, an independent pro-democracy organization, said the prosecution’s case had been tested in the Court of Appeal “and it should have been possible for it to proceed. The celebrations aside, I think we have done ourselves a great disservice.”

Shaik, Zuma’s former financial advisor, was convicted in 2005 of fraud and corruption relating to the arms deal. He was recently released from prison just three years into a 15-year sentence because of “terminal hypertension.” Critics pointed out that prisoners suffering more serious fatal illnesses are not usually freed.

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robyn.dixon@latimes.com