S.African President wins bid to interdict prosecution against him by predecessor

JOHANNESBURG: South African President Cyril Ramaphosa has won a bid to interdict the private prosecution against him filed by his predecessor President Jacob Zuma, local media reported.

In a judgment delivered Wednesday, the Gauteng High Court in Johannesburg found among other things that Zuma instituted the private prosecution of Ramaphosa for an "ulterior motive", Xinhua news agency quoted the South African Broadcasting Corporation as saying.

Zuma had accused Ramaphosa of being an accessory to a crime related to prosecutor advocate Billy Downer's alleged leaking of the former president's medical records.

He further alleged that Ramaphosa failed to act on the alleged breach which he argues compromised the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) and by extension, the criminal justice system as a whole, the report said.

The court declared that the "Nolle Prosequi Certificates" issued by the NPA do not apply to Ramaphosa, and the summons issued against Ramaphosa is invalid, unlawful and subsequently set it aside.

In addition, the private prosecution itself was declared unlawful and unconstitutional and subsequently set aside, according to the report.