Private prosecution of Ramaphosa means nothing, says ANC electoral committee

The ANC’s electoral committee says former president Jacob Zuma’s attempt to privately prosecute President Cyril Ramaphosa in a bid to disqualify him from standing for a second term is “irrelevant”.

Committee secretary Chief Matsila said the summons lodged in court by the JZ Foundation against Ramaphosa does not amount to “criminal charges in the court of law”.

“Therefore, such summons are irrelevant and not applicable during the vetting process of the ANC electoral committee.”

TimesLIVE reported earlier that Ramaphosa has accused Zuma of trying to block him from being re-elected as party president at the national conference taking place at Nasrec until Tuesday. This is contained in allegations Ramaphosa made in a letter drafted by state attorney Herbert Mncube and sent to Zuma’s lawyers in response to a summons served on the eve of the conference.

Ramaphosa’s opponents are expected to argue at the national conference that he should be disqualified from running because he faces a private prosecution.

The state prosecutor has, among other defences, questioned the timing of the summons, which was served a day before the conference. He argued Zuma was abusing the legal processes as the state prosecutor had established that the prosecution was influenced by ulterior motives aimed at blocking Ramaphosa from contesting at the conference and not for seeking criminal justice.

“The purported summons [was] served on the president a day before the 55th national conference was due to commence,” the state prosecutor wrote. “It is common knowledge that the president will stand for re-election as presidential candidate. It appears that the purported summons was served to halt his candidature. This is an abuse of process.”

TimesLIVE