- Jacob Zuma instituted a private prosecution of News24 journalist Karyn Maughan and State advocate Billy Downer.
- An urgent application to have the case struck from the roll, filed by Maughan, will be heard in December.
- Zuma claims that Maughan colluded with the State to publish his medical records without permission.
On Monday, News24 specialist legal journalist Karyn Maughan and State advocate Billy Downer appeared in the Pietermaritzburg High Court.
It was the first day of former president Jacob Zuma's private prosecution of Maughan and Downer.
Zuma alleges that Maughan colluded with the State to publish his medical records without permission.
This week on The Story, Maughan speaks about the case for the first time.
We also speak to News24 editor-in-chief Adriaan Basson.
Maughan, who switched her seat on the press bench for the dock, described it as a moment "designed to be an exercise in humiliation. I was in my 20s when I started this job, and I never thought for one minute that I would ever be in that position".
Adriaan Basson | Zuma vs Maughan: Media freedom goes on trial
She said she had received incredible support from ordinary South Africans, "who know the circumstances of this case, know that there was no leaking of medical records, know that all I did was publish court papers that were filed by Jacob Zuma's lawyers themselves, in conditions where no confidentiality was asserted".
Maughan believes the case will fail and is designed to "harass and intimidate" her.
She will continue to report on Zuma's corruption trial, which resumes next week.
"Billy Downer will be there to prosecute the case, and I will be there to report on it, and so we're going to keep doing our jobs, despite the efforts to stop us."
Basson believes taking a journalist to a criminal court is a "dangerous and perilous moment for media freedom in this country".
"The fact that Zuma feels confident that he can ask a court to imprison Karyn for writing about court papers is a danger to society because it tells his supporters and people sympathetic to his case that journalists are fair game and they are criminals for doing their job."
He said an urgent application to strike the matter from the roll would be heard on 8 and 9 December.
In the meantime, Maughan will be back in court to cover Zuma's corruption trial.
"We believe this is an absolute nonsense case. We support her and are confident that our readers and subscribers will see through this attempt to silence her," he said.