President Cyril Ramaphosa’s court action to quash ex-president Jacob Zuma’s summons will be heard today, Thursday (12 January 2023), in the High Court of South Africa, Gauteng Local Division, in Johannesburg.
Zuma’s disputed summons ordered Ramaphosa to appear in person on 19 January 2023 to face charges that he was an “accessory after the fact”.
The matter is in relation to private prosecution charges Zuma is pursuing against prosecutor Advocate Billy Downer and journalist Karyn Maughan.
Zuma alleges that Ramaphosa failed to act following an incident where the National Prosecuting Authority allegedly unlawfully leaked his medical records to the media.
However, Ramaphosa insists Zuma’s summons are defective, an abuse of the court system, and should be declared invalid.
The President also advances many other reasons why Zuma’s summons should be rejected.
Even after being requested to withdraw his court action, Zuma refused to back down saying Ramaphosa has a case to answer.
All eyes will be on the high court when the matter is heard.
The high court said due to the public interest in the litigation between President Ramaphosa and Zuma, court proceedings will be broadcast and streamed live.