The National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) has won its bid to block former president Jacob Zuma and French arms company Thales from further delaying the 1999 arms deal case.
The KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) High Court in Pietermaritzburg delivered its ruling on Thursday, 14 May 2026.
The state had filed a counter-application to stop what it described as Zuma and Thales’ “Stalingrad” strategy used to stall the trial.
This follows the accused’s challenge to a June 2025 ruling that had rejected their bid to have charges of corruption, fraud, racketeering and money laundering dropped.
Judge Nkosinathi Chili dismissed the appeal in February 2026, while the decision on the state’s application was deferred.
NPA bags win in Zuma arms deal case
During Thursday’s proceedings, Chili found that Zuma had been employing stalling tactics by filing interlocutory applications in an attempt to delay the arms deal trial.
“A factual finding has been made several times, not only by the full court of this division and the Gauteng Division, but also by the Supreme Court of Appeal that Mr Zuma is implementing Stalingrad delay tactics to the commencement of the trial,” he said.
The judge stated that allowing the situation to continue unchecked, especially after the appeals were dismissed, would seriously undermine the interests of justice.
“Without this court’s intervention, it is my view that there is a likelihood of grave injustice or the administration of justice being brought into disrepute.
“It is not only the interest of Mr Zuma and Thales that the court has to take into account when considering the state’s application, but also the interest of society.
“This court owes the public a duty to facilitate the expeditious commencement and management of the criminal trial,” Chili said.
He added: “Failure by the court to intervene in circumstances where it has been sufficiently established that the strategy implemented by the defence is designed to delay the commencement of the trial will no doubt compromise the integrity of the court and the administration of justice.”
As a result, Chili ruled that the trial must proceed irrespective of any interlocutory applications by either the state, Zuma or Thales.
Watch the proceedings below:
Following an adjournment, prosecutor Billy Downer told the court that the state and the defence have agreed on a date of 1 February 2027 for the trial to start.
“As these things go, it’s impossible to predict how long the matter will be, but we certainly have an agreement from both parties that they are available for two terms,” Downer said.
Chili postponed the case to next year.
Billy Downer’s battle
Zuma previously pursued a lengthy legal bid to privately prosecute Billy Downer and journalist Karyn Maughan, alleging they breached the NPA Act by sharing publicly available court documents, including a medical note from one of his doctors.
Several courts, including the Constitutional Court and the Supreme Court of Appeal, denounced the move as an abuse of process, and the case was ultimately removed from the roll.
He also made repeated, unsuccessful attempts to have Downer recused from the arms deal trial on the grounds of alleged bias.
