South African taxpayers have footed almost R10 million in legal fees for President Jacob Zuma and his “exorbitant” legal counsel to evade justice‚ the Democratic Alliance charged on Saturday.
The party’s federal executive chairperson‚ James Selfe‚ told a news conference in Nelson Mandela Bay that this was according to research by the DA. “Our research reveals that since 2009 President Zuma has spent an inordinate amount of taxpayers’ money on keeping himself from facing justice. This is despite there being no basic services for the millions of South Africans who so deserve them‚” Selfe said.
Specifically‚ Zuma had spent almost R10 million of taxpayers’ money on legal fees‚ he added. Nearly R4.8 million of this was on advocates’ fees and R400‚000 on attorneys’ costs.
“This is the hallmark of frivolous expenditure for one man. This is set to rise since the President and his cronies at the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) take this matter to the Constitutional Court.
“This is indicative of how much the ANC State has become preoccupied with protecting President Zuma and that alone.
“Throughout my time in Parliament I have watched the ANC become a shadow of itself and a shadow of what it was supposed to be‚” Selfe stated.
“The truth is that the ANC has changed and done so for the worse. The truth is that the ANC has done so for President Zuma who faces 783 charges.
“This is also true of the Cabinet and the Ministers he has appointed to do his bidding‚” he added.
Selfe said that reports released earlier this year had revealed that government departments – at the behest of Ministers and Directors-General (D-G) – “enter into and proceed with costly litigation despite senior legal advice that these cases are without any legal merit and are sure to be thrown out by the courts”.
“This sort of frivolous litigation is something that we have seen play out in our courts time and time again. Most notably is the President’s defence of the Nkandla matter which ended in concession on the steps of the Constitutional Court with a massive team of 5 advocates for the President alone. Another such example is the Booysen matter where the State has lost more than five times in trying to get rid of the KZN Hawks boss‚ Johann Booysen‚ on baseless claims.
“This is also true of the litigation around the suitability of Mr Hlaudi Motsoeneng to be the Chief Operating Officer of the SABC‚ which has involved the DA in four separate court cases. Subsequent events at Auckland Park have shown how justified we were in seeking his removal‚” Selfe said.
“It is easy for the State to pursue litigation using other peoples’ money. It is our contention that the Ministers and Directors-General should be held liable and be made to pay personally for these exercises in wasting valuable financial resources‚” Selfe added.
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