Zuma to Appeal Judgement on Downer

By: Bright Ntuli

Former President Jacob Zuma plans to appeal the Pietermaritzburg High Court decision to deny his application for the recusal of lead prosecutor Billy Downer from his corruption trial.

He accused Downer of bias and leaking his medical records to the media.

Delivering his judgement on Tuesday, Judge Piet Koen says the trial must go ahead and has postponed it to April next year.

Zuma and his co-accused, French arms manufacturer Thales, stand accused on 16 counts of fraud, corruption, racketeering and money laundering relating to the controversial arms deal of the 1990s.

The Jacob Zuma Foundation has since confirmed that the former president has instructed his lawyers to appeal the judgement to the Supreme Court of Appeal.

The Foundation believes that the judge made several material and gross errors of law and misdirection of facts.