South Africa court orders release of Zuma corruption report News
South Africa court orders release of Zuma corruption report

The High Court of South Africa on Wednesday ordered the release of a report on corruption allegations against President Jacob Zuma. The country’s former Public Protector, Thuli Madonsela, concluded the report into the possibly corrupt relationship between Zuma and an influential family last month, shortly before the expiry of her seven-year term. The report was scheduled to be released in mid-October, but Zuma’s lawyers made a bid to block the publication of the report. After the bid was dropped on Wednesday, judge Dunstan Mlambo ordered [Al Jazeera report] the Public Protector to publish the report “forthwith and by no later than 17:00 hours (15:00 GMT)[.]” After publication, Zuma and his lawyers will determine if the contents of the report are subject to further court challenge.

The South African president has been embroiled in legal trouble for the past several months. In June a South African court denied Zuma’s appeal of a prior court ruling [JURIST report] that he should face nearly 800 corruption charges. Zuma evaded impeachment [JURIST report] in April after the African National Congress (ANC) reaffirmed its support for the president. The move to impeach Zuma came from opposition leaders after the Constitutional Court ruled [JURIST report] in March that he had ignored the order of the Public Protector to personally repay the amounts determined by the National Treasury, as they relate to the “non-security” upgrades to his private residence.