JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - South Africa's top prosecutor said on Thursday he was in a position to charge Jacob Zuma with corruption, just two days after he was elected leader of the ruling ANC.
By Michael Georgy
JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - South Africa's top prosecutor said on Thursday he was in a position to charge Jacob Zuma with corruption, just two days after he was elected leader of the ruling ANC.
"The investigation is complete. All that we are doing now is to tie the loose ends," Mokotedi Mpshe, acting director of the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA), told Talk Radio 702.
"The investigation, with the evidence we have now, points to a case that can be taken to court." He said he was under the impression that charges would be filed soon.
!ADVERTISEMENT!Zuma ousted President Thabo Mbeki as ANC leader on Tuesday.
An NPA spokesman said he could not comment on the case.
Zuma denies any wrongdoing. He said he did not understand why the allegations were being raised in the media and not in a court.
"There was an investigation conducted publicly against me. I was threatened to be charged in public. There were things said about me. My problem was 'why are these things being said in public?" he told a news conference.
"I was being asked in public about allegations against me and I said: 'If I have to answer any allegations I will do that in court'."
Mbeki fired Zuma in 2005 after he was charged with bribery and fraud over a multi-million-dollar arms scandal. The case collapsed on a technicality.
Days before Zuma became ANC leader, an elite crime unit called the Scorpions filed papers in the Constitutional Court containing what they said was new evidence against him.
Zuma's supporters say he is the victim of a plot by Mbeki, who now holds no office in the party. Critics accuse Mbeki of using state institutions to purge opponents.
Zuma was elected ANC president at a party conference in Polokwane on Tuesday. Because of the ANC's electoral dominance, he is expected to become president when Mbeki has to step down in 2009 but a graft conviction would force him to stand down.
Uncertainty over the charges is one of several issues causing concern among investors after Zuma's election.
Asked to comment on the possible charges, Zuma told the news conference: "I don't think I'd like to engage that issue. I think I want to cross that bridge when I get there ... If I start arguing that, I'm just philosophizing on speculation."
SCORPIONS
Zuma's lawyer, Michael Hulley, told Reuters Mpshe had not notified him about possible legal action against the ANC leader.
"I can only speculate that the actions of the national director are fuelling and lending credence to the idea that state resources are being used against my client," he said.
In 2005, Zuma's former financial adviser Schabir Shaik was convicted of trying to solicit a 500,000 rand ($72,500) a year bribe for Zuma from a French arms company and jailed for 15 years.
Influential businessman and ANC member Tokyo Sexwale said Zuma should be considered innocent until proven guilty. "Zuma is big enough and man enough" to handle any outcome, he said.
Patrick Craven, spokesman of the powerful COSATU trade union confederation, said: "Our position remains the same, and that is demanding that the charges against Mr. Zuma be dropped."
South African press reports say the ANC congress voted to disband the Scorpions although it is not clear if it has the power to do so.
ANC members, especially Zuma supporters, have accused the Scorpions of abusing their power to settle political scores.
(Additional reporting by Wendell Roelf and Paul Simao; editing by Robert Woodward)
