MK party leader and former President Jacob Zuma is refusing to relent, mounting yet another legal battle to halt the decade‑long arms deal corruption trial from proceeding.
This comes after the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) won its bid to block Zuma and French arms company Thales from further delaying the 1999 arms deal case.
Judgement
The KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) High Court in Pietermaritzburg delivered its ruling on Thursday, 14 May 2026, ordering that the trial move forward despite pending interlocutory challenges from the State and Zuma’s legal team.
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.
Zuma to appeal
However, the Jacob Zuma Foundation said it does not agree with the findings. It labelled Chili’s judgment as “totally erroneous and constitutes multiple and gross misdirection’s of fact and law.”
The Jacob Zuma Foundation spokesperson, Mzwanele Manyi, said there are prospects of having the judgment reversed and overturned on appeal to a higher court.
“It cannot be that a single judge can willy-nilly erase or rewrite the Constitution of South Africa, which guarantees several substantive and procedural rights to all accused persons.
“We cannot have one law for all accused persons and another law for Zuma. It is time to put a stop to the growing phenomenon known as “Zuma Law,” Manyi said.
Pending appeals
Manyi argued that there are two appeals are pending before the Supreme Court.
“One dealing with the recusal of the current prosecutor and the other dealing with the application by Thales for acquittal based on the deaths of key witnesses. How can a trial start before those questions have been decided? For example, which prosecutor will run the case?
“Can the High Court pre-empt the decision of the SCA or the Constitutional Court? These are key and unprecedented issues that are raised by this incorrect and disturbingly shocking judgment of the Honourable Judge Chili,” Manyi said.
‘Stalling tactics’
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.
Private prosecution
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.
Arms deal
Zuma and French arms company Thales are seeking an acquittal, citing lengthy delays in the State’s case against them, which they claim has infringed on their constitutional rights to a fair trial.
The former president and Thales face several charges, including fraud, racketeering and money laundering, linked to the multibillion-rand arms deal in 1999.
