South African Court Dismisses Ex-President Zuma's Leave To Appeal Bid - Reports

South African Court Dismisses Ex-President Zuma's Leave to Appeal Bid - Reports

The High Court of the South African city of Pietermaritzburg dismissed on Friday former President Jacob Zuma's application for leave to appeal in his corruption case, media reported

MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 29th November, 2019) The High Court of the South African city of Pietermaritzburg dismissed on Friday former President Jacob Zuma's application for leave to appeal in his corruption case, media reported.

Zuma's request for the court's review of the decision was dismissed with costs, according to the South African News24 media outlet.

The former president claimed that the Supreme Court of Appeal could make a different decision than that of the High Court, the news portal added.

Zuma has been charged with 16 counts of corruption, racketeering, fraud and money laundering for a 1999 arms deal, and is accused of receiving over $300,000 in a total of 783 payments when he was vice-president.

The former president first faced corruption charges in 2005, but they were dropped four years later just before the presidential election, in which he ended up the winner.

The opposition had been calling for his resignation since 2014 amid multiple corruption allegations and a major scandal involving him using millions of taxpayer Dollars to rebuild his private residence. Zuma finally resigned in February 2018 due to pressure from the African National Congress party and was succeeded by Cyril Ramaphosa.