Johannesburg - The Presidency has filed a notice in the High Court in Pretoria to abide by the court's decision on the Democratic Alliance's (DA) application on the State's provision of legal assistance to former president Jacob Zuma.
"The Presidency has today, Monday, 21 May 2018, filed a notice in the Pretoria High Court to abide by the court’s decision on the application by the Democratic Alliance on the provision by the state of legal assistance to former President Jacob Zuma," Presidency spokesperson Khusela Diko said in a statement.
"The Presidency has indicated that it nevertheless intends to submit an explanatory affidavit to assist the court in understanding the history, legal basis, rationale and processes relating to the provision of this support."
On April 16, a written reply from Justice and Constitutional Development Minister Michael Masutha revealed that over R24 million in taxpayers money has been spent on legal fees for Zuma since 2009.
In the written reply, Masutha reveals five files in his department's possession regarding legal matters against Zuma. The cases include the fraud, corruption, money laundering and racketeering case related to the arms deal, which has since been reinstated. The amount involved here is R15.3 million, while Zuma's failed attempt at challenging a Public Protector's report into security upgrades at his private KwaZulu-Natal homestead cost the State almost R3.2 million with five advocates having been used to defend the controversial former president.
In March, the DA filed papers with the North Gauteng High Court asking that it declare the agreement between the Presidency and Zuma, to cover the legal costs incurred by him for his criminal prosecution be reviewed, declared invalid and set aside.