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10 Oct 2022
Jacob Zuma during the private prosecution matter against Adv Billy Downer and News24 Journalist Karyn Maughan at the Pietermaritzburg High Court on 10 October 2022 in Pietermaritzburg.
(Photo by Gallo Images/Darren Stewart)
10 Oct 2022
Adriaan Basson and Karyn Maughan during the private prosecution matter against Adv Billy Downer and News24 Journalist Karyn Maughan at the Pietermaritzburg High Court.
(Photo by Gallo Images/Darren Stewart)
10 Oct 2022
Karyn Maughan during the private prosecution matter against Adv Billy Downer and News24 Journalist Karyn Maughan at the Pietermaritzburg High Court on 10 October 2022.
(Photo by Gallo Images/Darren Stewart)
10 Oct 2022
Duduzile Zuma, ADV Dali Mpofu and Jacob Zuma during the private prosecution matter against Adv Billy Downer and News24 Journalist Karyn Maughan at the Pietermaritzburg High Court on 10 October 2022, in Pietermaritzburg.
(Photo by Gallo Images/Darren Stewart)
10 Oct 2022
COMMENT | Remember today: 10 October 2022. The day a democratically-elected president charged a journalist in a criminal court for doing her job. Make no mistake; this is no laughing matter. This is the architect of state capture trying to divert attention from his own misdemeanours. He won’t succeed. We will be back here on 8 December, asking the court to struck down the private prosecution because it is a clear abuse of court processes. Zuma’s attempts to silence, intimidate and bully Maughan and all journalists reporting on this matter will fail.
- Adriaan Basson
10 Oct 2022
We are back in court and Judge Nkosinathi Chili adjourns the private prosecution to 2 February 2023. Chili warns Downer and Maughan to appear in court on that day. The applications to have the private prosecution struck down have been postponed to 8 and 9 December 2022.
- Adriaan Basson
10 Oct 2022
Jacob Zuma Foundation spokesperson Mzwanele Manyi and Carl Niehaus taking pictures of Advocate Billy Downer and journalist Karyn Maughan in the dock of the Pietermaritzburg High Court.
- Adriaan Basson
10 Oct 2022
What has happened so far today?
- Judge Rishi Seegobin adjourned Karyn Maughan's urgent application to have her private prosecution scrapped, for parties to agree on dates.
- All parties (Zuma, Downer and Maughan) agreed that two applications to have the private prosecution declared unlawful - by Downer and by Maughan - will be heard on 8 and 9 December 2022.
- All parties agreed that the private prosecution will resume on 2 February 2023 (assuming the applications to scrap the private prosecution fail).
- Adriaan Basson
10 Oct 2022
The advocates for Zuma, Downer and Maughan have now been called to Judge Chili's chambers for a meeting. Hoping for clarity on the way forward soon.
- Adriaan Basson
10 Oct 2022
The case is postponed for Judge Chili to get directions from the Acting Judge President on whether he can postpone the private prosecution.
- Adriaan Basson
10 Oct 2022
Budlender says there is agreement that Downer's application and Maughan's application to have the private prosecution struck down be heard on the same day - 8 December 2022. And that the private prosecution be adjourned to 2 February 2023.
"There is NOT agreement that the matters should be heard on the ordinary roll; the agreement is that it should be heard for two days. Maughan wishes the matter to be heard extremely urgently because the matter was brought to harass and intimidate her. The urgent matter was not removed but adjourned. It was purely as a practicality agreed to postpone the case to December."
- Adriaan Basson
10 Oct 2022
Mpofu tells the court they will ask the private prosecution to be postponed to February 2023.
- Adriaan Basson
10 Oct 2022
Judge Chili now tells Mpofu that he was not assigned to hear the criminal, private prosecution. Mpofu says the parties have agreed that all the applications, by Downer and Maughan, to have the private prosecution set aside, but adjourned to 8 and 9 December.
- Adriaan Basson
10 Oct 2022
Advocate Wim Trengove SC, representing Downer, tells Judge Chili they have launched an application to have the private prosecution be declared an abuse of court processes, and will ask this court to hear this matter.
- Adriaan Basson
10 Oct 2022
Mpofu reveals to the court that Zuma has now put up a R500 000 deposit to continue with the private prosecution.
- Adriaan Basson
10 Oct 2022
Mpofu says a private prosecution is "unique" and "even strange" for him as a legal practitioner. It is also "unique" because Zuma is the private prosecutor.
- Adriaan Basson
10 Oct 2022
State prosecutor Billy Downer SC and News24 journalist Karyn Maughan in the dock for the private prosecution by former president Jacob Zuma.
- Adriaan Basson
10 Oct 2022
Advocate Dali Mpofu SC is up first, he informs Judge Chili that he will be the "de facto" prosecutor for former president Zuma.
- Adriaan Basson
10 Oct 2022
Former president Jacob Zuma seated next to his counsel, Advocate Dali Mpofu, in court, about to ask the Pietermaritzburg High Court to prosecute and imprison a journalist and his lead prosecutor.
- Adriaan Basson
10 Oct 2022
Our view in court :-) Unusual for journalists to be on the other side of the lens, but here we are, defending media freedom and democracy.
- Adriaan Basson
10 Oct 2022
We are now seated in Courtroom A of the Pietermaritzburg High Court, waiting for the private prosecution of Karyn Maughan and Advocate Billy Downer to begin. The case will be heard by Judge Nkosinathi Chili. Former president Jacob Zuma is present in court with his legal team.
- Adriaan Basson
10 Oct 2022
News24’s urgent application to have the private prosecution against Karyn Maughan dropped has been adjourned for all parties to agree on a court date.
- Adriaan Basson
10 Oct 2022
I am here in the Pietermaritzburg High Court with News24’s legal specialist reporter Karyn Maughan ready to defend media freedom! We start with News24’s urgent application to have the private prosecution thrown out before Judge Seegobin.
- Adriaan Basson
10 Oct 2022
'Free man' Zuma to thank supporters at court in legal showdown with Downer and Maughan
Former president Jacob Zuma is expected to give his supporters a shoutout on the sidelines of the showdown between himself, prosecutor Billy Downer SC and News24 specialist legal writer Karyn Maughan at the KwaZulu-Natal High Court in Pietermaritzburg on Monday.
"I can confirm his excellency will be in court," said Mzwanele Manyi, who provides updates on Zuma to the media and via his Twitter account for the Jacob Zuma Foundation.
"He is going to thank them," Manyi told News24 in a whirlwind round of media interviews on Sunday. Manyi trumpeted the end of Zuma's sentence on Friday with a post describing the former president as a "FREEMAN".
10 Oct 2022
ICYMI - FOR SUBSCRIBERS
I have the right to report on Zuma - Maughan
*News24 specialist legal writer Karyn Maughan has maintained she has the right to report on legal developments in the public interest, including former president Jacob Zuma's case.
*Zuma wants to privately prosecute Maughan and NPA prosecutor advocate Billy Downer.
*In her court papers, Maughan maintains Zuma's medical records were not leaked and that they were not confidential.
10 Oct 2022
ICYMI
Judge presiding over Zuma corruption case misses out on appointment to Supreme Court of Appeal | News24
The judge who has been presiding over the State's often-delayed corruption case against Jacob Zuma has missed out on an appointment to the Supreme Court of Appeal, while the judge who invalidated the former president's medical parole was given the nod.
10 Oct 2022
ICYMI - FOR SUBSCRIBERS
'I have a right to prosecute Maughan': Zuma tells court to dismiss urgent application
*Zuma launched private prosecution against News24 journalist Karyn Maughan and NPA prosecutor Billy Downer.
*Karyn Maughan has filed an urgent application asking the court to set aside the private prosecution against her.
*Zuma wants Maughan's application dismissed, saying the grounds of urgency were "extremely weak".
10 Oct 2022
ICYMI
SCA candidate who ruled Zuma's parole to be unlawful quizzed about jailing older people
"You want to get me into trouble?" said Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) Judge candidate Elias Matojane after Julius Malema, a member of the Judicial Service Commission (JSC), asked him what society would benefit if an 80-year-old were to be incarcerated.
Malema said by the time an older inmate "gets into society [they] are no longer a human being, they are remains".
Malema had first asked Matojane about his understanding of why South Africa's prison system was called correctional services.
10 Oct 2022
ICYMI
International Association of Prosecutors throws weight behind Billy Downer amid Zuma private prosecution
The International Association of Prosecutors (IAP) has thrown its weight behind prosecutor Billy Downer amid "legal, political and social media attacks" emanating from his private prosecution by former president Jacob Zuma.
The association said the prosecution of Downer, who is the lead prosecutor in Zuma's arms deal case, was unwarranted and amounted to an abuse of the court process.
10 Oct 2022
ICYMI
ConCourt dismisses Zuma's bid to force 'misguided' Maya to reconsider his special plea
Former president Jacob Zuma has failed to convince the Constitutional Court that Mandisa Maya, the former head of the Supreme Court of Appeal, grossly misdirected herself by refusing to reconsider his bid to force the removal of prosecutor Billy Downer from his corruption trial.
The apex court unanimously dismissed Zuma's argument that Maya - who President Cyril Ramaphosa has since appointed as the deputy chief justice - grossly misdirected herself when she found there were no exceptional circumstances justifying the reconsideration of her court's dismissal of Zuma's challenge to a ruling that Downer had the title (legal standing) to prosecute him.
10 Oct 2022
ICYMI - FOR SUBSCRIBERS
Downer slams Zuma's 'abuse' of courts in bid to dismiss private prosecution
*Jacob Zuma launched private prosecution against Billy Downer and Karyn Maughan.
*The former president alleges the pair violated the NPA Act.
*Downer said the private prosecution was just another attempt by Zuma to avoid his day in court.
10 Oct 2022
ICYMI
Zuma to oppose applications of Maughan, Downer as he presses on with private prosecution bid
Former president Jacob Zuma has filed a notice of intention to oppose the applications of News24 specialist legal reporter Karyn Maughan and State prosecutor Billy Downer.
The notices of intention to oppose were received on Monday.
Maughan filed an urgent application in the Pietermaritzburg High Court, News24 reported last week.
She argued in court papers that the summons issued against her by Zuma's legal team was "unlawful, vexatious and an abuse of the process of court".
10 Oct 2022
ICYMI
News24 journalist files urgent application to stop Zuma 'abuse of process' in High Court | News24
News24 specialist legal journalist Karyn Maughan has filed an urgent application in the Pietermaritzburg High Court, asking the court to set aside a private prosecution brought against her by former president Jacob Zuma. The summons issued against her by Zuma's legal team is a gross abuse of court processes and, therefore, should be set aside, Maughan argues.
10 Oct 2022
ICYMI - FOR SUBSCRIBERS
Pieter du Toit | Zuma’s cynical attack on Karyn Maughan, News24 and media freedom must be defeated
Former president Jacob Zuma's private prosecution of News24 journalist Karyn Maughan and State advocate Billy Downer is a cynical attack on media freedom and the rule of law. It must be roundly defeated, says Pieter du Toit.
The attacks on Karyn Maughan, News24's legal journalist, start early in the day.
When she publishes her reports or analyses of former president Jacob Zuma's corruption trial in Pietermaritzburg just after 06:00 on News24, or when she covers the impeachment hearing of advocate Busisiwe Mkhwebane, online trolls abuse her relentlessly.
They call her "a lying, white bitch", a racist, a pig and a criminal. They also call her a "servant of white privilege, a propaganda journalist", and an "askari".
10 Oct 2022
ICYMI
Advocate Billy Downer wants Zuma to put up R1m as security if he wants to privately prosecute him
State advocate Billy Downer wants former president Jacob Zuma to put up an additional R1 million as security for costs ahead of his private prosecution of Downer.
Zuma launched the private prosecution against Downer and News24 journalist Karyn Maughan and has apparently already deposited R90 000 at the Pietermaritzburg Magistrate's Court as security.
But Downer said in papers filed in the KwaZulu-Natal High Court in Pietermaritzburg, that R1 million was necessary to "provide security that is sufficient to meet the probable costs which may be incurred in respect of my defence in the private prosecution" if the prosecution fails.
10 Oct 2022
EXCLUSIVE | Mkhwebane's husband leads vitriolic social media attacks on News24 journalist, judges | News24
David Skosana, the husband of suspended Public Protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane, is a leading proponent of social media posts that are often repeated or amplified by Twitter accounts that show strong support for the so-called Radical Economic Transformation (RET) faction of the ANC.
10 Oct 2022
ICYMI
Global media body calls on Zuma to withdraw private prosecution against News24 journalist
The Committee to Protect Journalists has called on former president Jacob Zuma and his legal team to withdraw the private prosecution launched against News24 journalist Karyn Maughan.
On Tuesday, the organisation, which protects media freedom globally, said journalists must be allowed to cover the court proceedings involving the former president without fear of intimidation.
On 6 September, Zuma launched private prosecution against Maughan and State advocate Billy Downer, the lead prosecutor in his arms deal trial, in response to last year's publication of details of his medical condition by News24.
10 Oct 2022
ICYMI - FOR SUBSCRIBERS
'Abuse of power': Zuma's latest court bid 'designed to intimidate' journalists, prosecutor
*Former president Jacob Zuma launched private prosecution against journalist Karyn Maughan and advocate Billy Downer for alleged violations of the National Prosecuting Act.
*The move has been described as an intimidation tactic to silence Maughan and an attack on media freedom.
*News24 editor-in-chief Adriaan Basson has thrown his full support behind Maughan, adding that she will continue to report on Zuma's criminal cases.
10 Oct 2022
ICYMI - FOR SUBSCRIBERS
ANALYSIS | Zuma's charges against prosecutor, journalist attempt at attacking process, media freedom
The charges brought against a senior State prosecutor and a journalist by former president Jacob Zuma are an attempt to attack the legal process and freedom of the media. Based on Zuma's legal strategy of challenging everything, it should be resisted fiercely, writes Pieter du Toit.
On Tuesday, former president Jacob Zuma served a summons on advocate Billy Downer, the lead State prosecutor in Zuma's corruption case, and Karyn Maughan, News24's reporter covering the matter.
It related to Maughan's publication on 10 October 2021 of detail contained in a letter, dated 8 August 2021, by Zuma's military doctor to the head of the Estcourt prison, where Zuma was incarcerated briefly in July and August. In it, his physician tells the head of the prison that Zuma was admitted to hospital for an "extensive emergency procedure" after having suffered a "traumatic injury". No detail is given of what the procedure of the injury entailed.
