A court date has been set for the appearance of Jacob Zuma, TimesLive reported. Zuma will reportedly appear in court on April 6 on 16 charges, including corruption, racketeering and fraud.
According to TimesLive, it is not clear which court this will be, and Zuma's legal team is still expected to challenge the decision by national director of public prosecutions (NDPP) Shaun Abrahams to prosecute him.
While the NPA could not confirm the date of Zuma's appearance, Hawks spokesperson Hangwani Mulaudzi confirmed to News24 that Zuma's lawyers would receive a summons this week.
Ten days ago, Abrahams announced that the NPA would prosecute Zuma for the charges against him, which stem from 783 questionable payments he received from his former financial adviser, Schabir Shaik, alleged to have been bribes received in exchange for advancing Shaik's business interests in government. Shaik was convicted of fraud and corruption, but the charges against Zuma were controversially dropped in 2009. But the Supreme Court of Appeal ruled last year that the NPA's decision to do so at the time was unlawful.
But it is not a certainty that the case against Zuma will proceed on April 6, as he is expected to fight the decision to prosecute him now, according to reports.
The Sunday Times reported last week that part of Zuma's strategy will include trying to convince the court that he did not have criminal intentions and that his alleged interventions on Shaik's behalf were in line with the ANC's BEE objectives.
TimesLive also reported that Zuma intends taking on Abrahams as part of his strategy – an irony, given that Abrahams was accused of being a Zuma lackey.
The case is currently with the KwaZulu-Natal director of public prosecutions, advocate Moipone Noko, who also formed part of the team assembled by Abrahams to assess the case against Zuma, according to Eyewitness News.