DA rejects Zuma's 'spurious' legal fee challenge

Former President Jacob Zuma's latest bid to appeal the High Court ruling that he repay the legal fees paid on his behalf by the state was spurious, the DA said yesterday. 'The DA is of the view that there are no new grounds for the former President’s latest application for leave to appeal, as he already tried and failed in a previous bid to have the High Court judgment overturned,' said James Selfe, the chairman of the DA's federal executive. A report on the IoL site notes that Zuma is petitioning the Supreme Court of Appeal to allow him to challenge the 2018 Gauteng High Court (Pretoria) order that he repay about R16m in legal fees spent on fighting the corruption charges against him. He claims that the order to cut off state funding for his myriad legal challenges was a violation of his rights. Selfe said the charges Zuma faced had nothing to do with any political office he has occupied, and therefore the DA firmly believed that he must pay his own legal costs. 'The truth is that Zuma amassed millions of rands in legal fees for the alleged crimes he committed in his personal capacity which had nothing to do with his role as MEC, Deputy President, or President.'

Full IoL report