Guest on the line: Mbekezeli Benjamin - a research and advocacy officer at Judges Matter, a civil society organisation that monitors judicial appointments.
Legal conversations: High Court grants Ramaphosa urgent interdict halting Zuma's private prosecution
- The High Court in Johannesburg granted an interdict against former president Jacob Zuma's private prosecution of President Cyril Ramaphosa.
- The court found there would be no harm to Zuma if the prosecution is delayed.
- This means Ramaphosa will not appear in court on Thursday.
The Gauteng High Court in Johannesburg has granted President Cyril Ramaphosa an urgent interdict to stop his predecessor, Jacob Zuma, from prosecuting him privately.
This means Ramaphosa will no longer be appearing in the dock on Thursday to face the private criminal prosecution by Zuma.
Handing down judgment on Monday morning, Gauteng Deputy Judge President Roland Sutherland said Ramaphosa's legal team had made a case that he should not be hauled before an "illegal prosecution".
"The harm of being submitted to an alleged illegal prosecution could not be undone, but no harm would befall the former president should his prosecution be delayed," he ruled.
The court found that the application was urgent, pending the finalisation of the second part of the case. A date for when this second part will start is yet to be announced.
The urgent application came as a last resort after Zuma instituted private prosecution proceedings against his successor, accusing him of being an "accessory after the fact".