- The High Court in Johannesburg granted an interdict against former president Jacob Zuma's private prosecution of President Cyril Ramaphosa.
- The court found there would be no harm to Zuma if the prosecution is delayed.
- This means Ramaphosa will not appear in court on Thursday.
The Gauteng High Court in Johannesburg has granted President Cyril Ramaphosa an urgent interdict to stop his predecessor, Jacob Zuma, from prosecuting him privately.
This means Ramaphosa will no longer be appearing in the dock on Thursday to face the private criminal prosecution by Zuma.
Handing down judgment on Monday morning, Gauteng Deputy Judge President Roland Sutherland said Ramaphosa's legal team had made a case that he should not be hauled before an "illegal prosecution".
"The harm of being submitted to an alleged illegal prosecution could not be undone, but no harm would befall the former president should his prosecution be delayed," he ruled.
The court found that the application was urgent, pending the finalisation of the second part of the case. A date for when this second part will start is yet to be announced.
The urgent application came as a last resort after Zuma instituted private prosecution proceedings against his successor, accusing him of being an "accessory after the fact".
This is after he accused advocate Billy Downer and News24 journalist Karyn Maughan of leaking Zuma's confidential medical information in his arms deal trial. Downer and Maughan have lodged applications to have the private prosecutions declared an abuse of court processes.
Ramaphosa also appealed to the court to declare Zuma's private prosecution against him unconstitutional. This will be determined in the second part of the application.
Part of the summons states that Ramaphosa should appear as an accused person in the matter against Downer and Maughan, saying that he did nothing about the issue.
In a lengthy court battle on Thursday, Ramaphosa's legal team advanced the argument that Zuma had ulterior political motives in instituting the private prosecution. Ramaphosa's legal representative, advocate Ngwako Maenetje, said there was a "strong political undertone" in the case.