Taxpayers should not have to pay President Jacob Zuma’s legal costs when he has abused the court, lied under oath, and is litigating to protect his own personal interests, opposition parties are arguing in court papers. After the president’s dramatic u-turn in his bid to prevent the release of the public protector’s State of Capture report by withdrawing his urgent application on the second day of the hearing, the DA, EFF, United Democratic Movenemet and the Congress of the People urged the court to order Zuma to pay for the legal costs out of his own pocket. They even asked the to court to order that Zuma pay his own costs – the costs of the state attorney and counsel representing him. But the president’s counsel, Anthea Platt SC, argued that Zuma should not be ordered to pay the costs personally – because the public protector’s report looked into Zuma’s conduct in his official capacity. In court papers, filed in the Pretoria High Court on Friday, Etienne Labuschagne SC, on behalf ...
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