PRETORIA: Former South African president Jacob Zuma will face prosecution on corruption charges that haunted much of his term in office, the country’s chief prosecutor said Friday.
Zuma is accused of taking kickbacks from the $5 billion purchase of fighter jets, patrol boats and other arms, manufactured by five European firms, including British military equipment maker BAE Systems and French company Thales.
National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) spokesman Luvuyo Mfaku confirmed to AFP that Thales would also face prosecution, alongside Zuma. Thales declined to make any immediate comment.
“After consideration of the matter I am of the view there are reasonable prospects of a successful prosecution of Mr.Zuma on the charges listed in the indictment,” said National Director of Public Prosecutions Shaun Abrahams at a media briefing in Pretoria.
Zuma will face one count of racketeering, two counts of corruption, one of money laundering and 12 counts of fraud — all of which can carry lengthy custodial sentences on conviction.
“I am of the view that a trial court would be the most appropriate forum for these issues to be ventilated and to be decided upon,” said Abrahams.
Prosecutors declined to confirm what charges Thales would face. “We don’t want to be prosecuting people in the media,” said Mfaku. “That will come out in court.”
The former president could now appeal the ruling on a number of grounds and argue that the decision is illegitimate as Abrahams’ own position is uncertain.
In December, the High Court in Pretoria ordered then-deputy president Cyril Ramaphosa to replace Abrahams, ruling that Zuma’s original decision to appoint him was “null and void” because he was “conflicted” at the time.
“Justice must not only be done, but must also be seen to be done — I am mindful that everyone is equal before the law,” said Abrahams, who noted that “Mr Zuma disputes all allegations against him.”
“I don’t think Zuma can stay out of court — there’s too many charges hanging over him,” independent political analyst and author Nomavenda Mathiane told AFP ahead of the announcement.
Abrahams said that his department’s representatives in Zuma’s home region of KwaZulu-Natal “will facilitate the necessary processes for Mr.Zuma and his co-accused to appear in court.”
Last year, a court ruled against a decision by prosecutors in 2009 to drop the corruption charges against Zuma just months before he became president, laying the path to Friday’s announcement.
Zuma’s criminal charges relate to an arms procurement deals struck by the government in the late 1990s and from which he is accused of profiting corruptly to the tune of four million rand ($345,000, 280,000 euros).
State prosecutors previously justified dropping the case by saying that tapped phone calls between officials in then-president Thabo Mbeki’s administration showed undue interference.
In 2005 Zuma’s former financial adviser Schabir Shaik was convicted for facilitating bribes over the contracts and sentenced to 15 years in prison. He was later released on medical parole.
Zuma resigned as president last month after the ruling African National Congress (ANC) party threatened to remove him from office.
The ANC noted Friday’s decision and called in a statement for “Comrade Zacob Zuma to be presumed innocent until, and if, proven guilty.”
The AfriForum campaign group, which has railed against corruption in South Africa’s democratic era, had threatened to privately prosecute Zuma if the NPA did not.
“The NPA’s decision to prosecute Zuma (is) not only a victory for AfriForum, but also for the principle of equality before the law,” said the group’s chief executive, Kallie Kriel.
In addition to the corruption scandals that dogged his time in office, Zuma had been under fire for his handling of the economy, which has been battered by falling economic growth and record unemployment.
The opposition Democratic Alliance (DA) party has campaigned since 2009 to reactivate the charges.
“It doesn’t matter who you are, whether you are the president, in whatever office you hold, accountability must be effective and justice will be met,” said DA leader Mmusi Maimane.
“He must have his day in court... We will see him in orange overalls.”
Zuma’s successor Ramaphosa has vowed to tackle corruption, admitting it was a major problem in the previous government.
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South Africa ex-president Zuma to face graft prosecution
South Africa ex-president Zuma to face graft prosecution
Afghan barbers under pressure as morality police take on short beards
KABUL: Barbers in Afghanistan risk detention for trimming men’s beards too short, they told AFP, as the Taliban authorities enforce their strict interpretation of Islamic law with increasing zeal.
Last month, the Ministry for the Propagation of Virtue and Prevention of Vice said it was now “obligatory” to grow beards longer than a fist, doubling down on an earlier order.
Minister Khalid Hanafi said it was the government’s “responsibility to guide the nation to have an appearance according to sharia,” or Islamic law.
Officials tasked with promoting virtue “are obliged to implement the Islamic system,” he said.
With ministry officials patrolling city streets to ensure the rule is followed, the men interviewed by AFP all spoke on condition of anonymity due to security concerns.
In the southeastern province of Ghazni, a 30-year-old barber said he was detained for three nights after officials found out that one of his employees had given a client a Western-style haircut.
“First, I was held in a cold hall. Later, after I insisted on being released, they transferred me to a cold (shipping) container,” he said.
He was eventually released without charge and continues to work, but usually hides with his clients when the patrols pass by.
“The thing is that no one can argue or question” the ministry officials, the barber said.
“Everyone fears them.”
He added that in some cases where both a barber and clients were detained, “the clients have been let out, but they kept the barber” in custody.
Last year, three barbers in Kunar province were jailed for three to five months for breaching the ministry’s rules, according to a UN report.
‘Personal space’
Alongside the uptick in enforcement, the religious affairs ministry has also issued stricter orders.
In an eight-page guide to imams issued in November, prayer leaders were told to describe shaving beards as a “major sin” in their sermons.
The religious affairs ministry’s arguments against trimming state that by shaving their beards, men were “trying to look like women.”
The orders have also reached universities — where only men study because women have been banned.
A 22-year-old Kabul University student said lecturers “have warned us... that if we don’t have a proper Islamic appearance, which includes beards and head covering, they will deduct our marks.”
In the capital Kabul, a 25-year-old barber lamented that “there are a lot of restrictions” which go against his young clients’ preference for closer shaves.
“Barbers are private businesses, beards and heads are something personal, they should be able to cut the way they want,” he said.
Hanafi, the virtue propagation minister, has dismissed such arguments, saying last month that telling men “to grow a beard according to sharia” cannot be considered “invading the personal space.”
Business slump
In Afghanistan, the majority are practicing Muslims, but before the Taliban authorities returned to power in 2021, residents of major cities could choose their own appearance.
In areas where Taliban fighters were battling US-backed forces, men would grow beards either out of fear or by choice.
As fewer and fewer men opt for a close shave, the 25-year-old Kabul barber said he was already losing business.
Many civil servants, for example, “used to sort their hair a couple of times a week, but now, most of them have grown beards, they don’t show up even in a month,” he said.
A 50-year-old barber in Kabul said morality patrols “visit and check every day.”
In one incident this month, the barber said that an officer came into the shop and asked: “Why did you cut the hair like this?“
“After trying to explain that he is a child, he told us: ‘No, do Islamic hair, not English hair’.”
Last month, the Ministry for the Propagation of Virtue and Prevention of Vice said it was now “obligatory” to grow beards longer than a fist, doubling down on an earlier order.
Minister Khalid Hanafi said it was the government’s “responsibility to guide the nation to have an appearance according to sharia,” or Islamic law.
Officials tasked with promoting virtue “are obliged to implement the Islamic system,” he said.
With ministry officials patrolling city streets to ensure the rule is followed, the men interviewed by AFP all spoke on condition of anonymity due to security concerns.
In the southeastern province of Ghazni, a 30-year-old barber said he was detained for three nights after officials found out that one of his employees had given a client a Western-style haircut.
“First, I was held in a cold hall. Later, after I insisted on being released, they transferred me to a cold (shipping) container,” he said.
He was eventually released without charge and continues to work, but usually hides with his clients when the patrols pass by.
“The thing is that no one can argue or question” the ministry officials, the barber said.
“Everyone fears them.”
He added that in some cases where both a barber and clients were detained, “the clients have been let out, but they kept the barber” in custody.
Last year, three barbers in Kunar province were jailed for three to five months for breaching the ministry’s rules, according to a UN report.
‘Personal space’
Alongside the uptick in enforcement, the religious affairs ministry has also issued stricter orders.
In an eight-page guide to imams issued in November, prayer leaders were told to describe shaving beards as a “major sin” in their sermons.
The religious affairs ministry’s arguments against trimming state that by shaving their beards, men were “trying to look like women.”
The orders have also reached universities — where only men study because women have been banned.
A 22-year-old Kabul University student said lecturers “have warned us... that if we don’t have a proper Islamic appearance, which includes beards and head covering, they will deduct our marks.”
In the capital Kabul, a 25-year-old barber lamented that “there are a lot of restrictions” which go against his young clients’ preference for closer shaves.
“Barbers are private businesses, beards and heads are something personal, they should be able to cut the way they want,” he said.
Hanafi, the virtue propagation minister, has dismissed such arguments, saying last month that telling men “to grow a beard according to sharia” cannot be considered “invading the personal space.”
Business slump
In Afghanistan, the majority are practicing Muslims, but before the Taliban authorities returned to power in 2021, residents of major cities could choose their own appearance.
In areas where Taliban fighters were battling US-backed forces, men would grow beards either out of fear or by choice.
As fewer and fewer men opt for a close shave, the 25-year-old Kabul barber said he was already losing business.
Many civil servants, for example, “used to sort their hair a couple of times a week, but now, most of them have grown beards, they don’t show up even in a month,” he said.
A 50-year-old barber in Kabul said morality patrols “visit and check every day.”
In one incident this month, the barber said that an officer came into the shop and asked: “Why did you cut the hair like this?“
“After trying to explain that he is a child, he told us: ‘No, do Islamic hair, not English hair’.”
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