Publication: Business Day Issued: Date: 2006-11-13 Reporter: Karima Brown Reporter: Vukani Mde

Cosatu Calls for Heads of Shaik Appeal Judges

 

Publication 

Business Day
Date 2006-11-13

Reporter

 Karima Brown, Vukani Mde

Web Link

www.businessday.co.za

 

The Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) has called for the resignation of the five Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) judges who turned down Schabir Shaik’s appeal, saying they misrepresented the findings of the trial judge and damaged ANC deputy president Jacob Zuma in the process.

The call creates an unprecedented situation, with one of the pillars of civil society on a collision course with one of the highest courts in the land.

It follows the revelation, published in Business Day’s sister newspaper, The Weekender, by high court trial Judge Hilary Squires that he had not called the relationship between Shaik and Zuma “generally corrupt”, yet this phrasing, wrongly attributed to him, was central to the failure of Shaik’s appeal.

Shaik was imprisoned two days after the SCA refused his appeals against fraud and corruption convictions.

The dramatic revelation has unleashed a political storm around the judiciary and raised questions over whether Zuma can receive a fair trial should corruption charges against him be reinstated.

“Instead of going through Squires’ judgment line by line, the Supreme Court merely parroted newspaper editorials. The five of them clearly must go. If they can do this in such a high profile case, imagine what they do to ordinary, poor people,” said Cosatu general secretary Zwelinzima Vavi yesterday in reaction to The Weekender report.

Vavi will table a secretary’s report to the federation’s six national office-bearers today, asking them to back a demand for the resignation or impeachment of the judges.

Zuma’s close allies and aides are now more adamant in their view that the politician would not get a fair hearing in a new corruption trial.

“If five eminent judges can be misled by the media, how will a single high court judge not be influenced?” said Vavi.

The politician’s innermost circle was abuzz at the weekend, and it is understood that his lawyers will this week pour over Squires’ and the SCA judgments to plan their next move.

Michael Hulley, Zuma’s attorney, threw the ball into the National Prosecuting Authority’s (NPA’s) court. “If they charge my client again, then we would have to consider afresh what Judge Squires has said,” he said.

The NPA has said it will study the SCA decision before deciding whether to recharge Zuma.

Hulley said this was not the first time Squires had repudiated the “generally corrupt relationship” statement. The media and public had failed to heed the judge’s clarification, he said.

What has buoyed the Zuma camp is evidence that the mistake was repeated by the SCA, the country’s highest criminal court, when it upheld Shaik’s convictions last week Monday.

Delivering the judgment, court president Judge Craig Howie noted that the trial court had found that “Shaik and Zuma engaged in a generally corrupt relationship” which involved frequent payments by Shaik to or on behalf of Zuma and a reciprocation by Zuma in the form of the bringing to bear of political influence on behalf of Shaik’s business interests when requested to do so.

However, in his letter to Business Day, Squires wrote: “Unless you can indicate to the contrary, please note that I did not make the statement and it should therefore not be attributed to me.”

The five judges who upheld Shaik’s convictions were Howie, his deputy, Lex Mpati, and judges Mohamed Navsa, Jonathan Heher and Piet Streicher.

With acknowledgements to Karima Brown, Vukani Mde and Business Day.