Former president Jacob Zuma may have access to state funding to fend off corruption charges against him, for now, but he does not have guaranteed funding to pursue his famous "Stalingrad" strategy.
Business Day reported on Tuesday that while Zuma's 2006 agreement with the state is in place, pending a court application by the DA and the EFF to overturn it, he has access to government state funding. But this is only for the actual corruption case against him; the funding does not extend to other court challenges he plans to bring, including challenging National Director of Public Prosecutions Shaun Abrahams' decision to reinstate the charges against him.
Last week, Eyewitness News (EWN) reported that the presidency is sticking to the 2006 agreement, for now.
Presidency spokesperson Khusela Diko reportedly said, "We will continue paying for his legal fees up until a point where the matter is concluded or a court decides otherwise."
But the presidency is not opposing the legal challenge to overturn that agreement.
According to News24, the presidency has agreed to abide by whatever decision the court makes in that regard. The presidency said it would submit an affidavit to the court explaining the history of the matter, but it will abide by the decision of the court.
According to Business Day, if Zuma wants to bring any other challenges that do not speak directly to the corruption case against him, he will not be guaranteed state funding.
Diko reportedly said, "That review application [of Abrahams' decision] would require the former president to bring a new application for funding, as such a review application would fall outside of the scope of existing undertakings to provide funding to [Zuma]."