Ok so the dust is settling a little, and at least four things stand out.
1. The merits of the Zuma case remain untested in court. Mpshe stressed that the evidence he has still provides the basis for a strong case against Zuma, and that his investigative and prosecutorial teams have done little wrong. So Zuma is off the hook but the cloud remains. The cloud is, however, a little less dark, since Mpshe promised the NPA would end its Zuma dealings here.
2. There is nothing in the Leonard McCarthy-Bulelani Ngcuka conversations, which were mainly about the timing of the re-instatement of charges (after Polokwane instead of before) that seem to fatally wound the investigation. Mpshe took pains to single out this one issue as the only problem in the EIGHT YEAR investigation. This seems like a tiny problem to most people, including my hero Steven Friedman. It certainly doesn't seem like enough of a reason to drop everything. Why? Because although the conversations should never have happened, Mpshe presented no evidence showing that these conversations in any way dilute the strength of the evidence against Zuma. See point 1.
3. Thint gets off the hook too, which is especially galling since the issue raised in point 2 cannot in any possible world apply to Thint. Will the NPA open a separate case against Thint? Might that be a backdoor for re-opening the Zuma investigation? I hope so.
4. If the NPA has already suffered illegal political influence, can you imagine how compromised it might become under a President that retains a strong interest in seeing lots of evidence disappear? Some lawyers have argued that because of this conflict of interest it is ridiculous to allow Zuma any say whatsoever in the administration of any aspect of the criminal justice system in South Africa. I agree.
Lots of good coverage in Business Day today. This whole thing sucks. Zille is applying for the NPA decision to be reviewed in court. Let a judge decide if the NPA should stop its prosecution. For once I agree with the DA.
Oh ya one last thing - who else's phone conversations is the NIA recording? Jislaaikit, I work for government too!
1 comment:
Phone tapping probably less likely than someone reading your blog posts.
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