South Africa to review Zuma corruption case
Pretoria, 21 Mar – (ANA) - A South African court has ruled that the decision to drop corruption charges against President Jacob Zuma can be reviewed.
The charges were dropped just weeks before the 2009 election which led to Mr Zuma becoming president. The court agreed with a request from the opposition Democratic Alliance (DA) to challenge the decision. The judges said judicial reviews were the "best guarantee against tyranny, now and in the future". Mr Zuma is facing increased criticism from some members of the governing African National Congress (ANC) ahead of its decision in December on whether to retain him as its leader for the next election, scheduled for 2014. The ANC candidate would be the strong favourite to become president. The corruption charges relate to a controversial $5bn (£3.4bn) 1999 arms deal, which led to Mr Zuma's financial advisor, Schabir Shaik, being convicted of soliciting a bribe in 2005. After Shaik's conviction, Mr Zuma was sacked as deputy president before being charged himself. Mr Zuma has always denied any wrongdoing and last year announced a government inquiry into the deal. (ANA)
FA/ANA/21 March 2012---------