Zuma consulting his lawyers over govt's bid to recoup millions for his defence in arms deal case - Manyi

JOHANNESBURG - Spokesperson for the Jacob Zuma Foundation, Mzwanele Manyi, said the former president was consulting lawyers around his next steps after the Presidency and the State Attorney this month approached the Pretoria High Court in a bid to recoup almost R29 million forked out by the state for his defence in the arms deal corruption case.

The move comes on the back of a 2018 order from the same court for the State Attorney to recover the money, following a finding that the state wasn’t liable for legal costs Zuma had incurred in his personal capacity.

Zuma tried to appeal that decision but the Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) in 2021 dismissed his application.

In the papers, which were filed last week Wednesday, State Attorney Isaac Chowe put the total amount owed at R28,960,774.

This is how much he says the state coughed up between September 2005 and January 2019 for “legal and associated services for and on behalf of [Jacob] Zuma in his personal capacity in the criminal proceedings and related civil proceedings”.

Manyi said that Zuma was still weighing his options.

"We saw the notice of motion and also part of that notice of motion says something about 30 days for any opposition to the motion. So President Zuma’s got 30 days to indicate his attitude. In the meantime, he’ll be consulting with his lawyers and at the appropriate time he’ll make his position clear."

In the meantime, the arms deal case is currently on ice pending the outcome of an application Zuma’s brought to remove State advocate, Billy Downer, from the prosecution team.