Kgomotso Modise11 April 2024 | 16:17

Zuma vows to change SA laws should his MK Party govern

Former statesman Jacob Zuma wants President Cyril Ramaphosa to be prosecuted as an accessory after the fact in his case against advocate Billy Downer and journalist Karyn Maughan.

Zuma vows to change SA laws should his MK Party govern

Former President Jacob Zuma addresses members of the media under the banner of new party uMkhontho weSizwe on 16 December 2023. Picture: Kayleen Morgan/ Eyewitness News

JOHANNESBURG - Former president Jacob Zuma has promised to change laws should his uMkhonto weSizwe (MK) Party come into power after the elections.

Zuma took the opportunity to address his supporters on a wide range of issues outside the Johannesburg High Court on Thursday, where an update on his private prosecution against his successor was heard.

Zuma wants President Cyril Ramaphosa to be prosecuted as an accessory after the fact in his case against advocate Billy Downer and journalist Karyn Maughan.

It seemed like a mini rally outside the Johannesburg High Court, where a lively Zuma sang and danced for supporters on the eve of his 82nd birthday.

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He’s spoken confidently about changing the country and its laws after the elections next month, including the laws that have allowed Ramaphosa not to come to court for Zuma’s private prosecution battle.

"The judges will tell me one day why one man who is a citizen and a leader who has done a crime is not brought to court. That’s why we say we will change the laws so that everyone is equal before the law."

Zuma says in August when the private prosecution matter returns to court, he will be the president of South Africa and Ramaphosa will be the former president.

Zuma also used Ramaphosa’s Phala Phala saga to campaign for his MK Party.

"I am not a criminal but there are people we know who have done crimes, taking money and hiding it in couches and were found by mistake but they say he is a gentleman, a businessman."

About $580,000 was stolen from the president’s farm in 2020, but he has since been cleared of any wrongdoing.