KwaZulu-Natal police commissioner Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi says security will be stepped up when former President Jacob Zuma makes his appearance at the Pietermaritzburg High Court tomorrow.
Zuma is expected to appear in court for his arms deal corruption trial. Mkhwanazi and Police Minister Bheki Cele hosted a community engagement meeting at KwaMadlala informal settlement at Lamontville, south of Durban following the death of 32-year-old Zamekile Shangase during a police operation to retrieve looted goods in the area.
Mkhwanazi elaborates, “Every time the former president goes to court there are also people who always want to go to court and support him so we’ve developed a different plan for that and for us to be able to secure that specific and we’ll come back together with a plan. Yes we did have some intelligence briefing on it which includes the state of the riots that we had in the province so we are deploying in line with that.”
Last week, the JG Zuma Foundation in a statement confirmed that the matter involving Zuma and the Thales Group will be heard in an open court.
The decision to have the matter heard in open court comes after Judge Piet Koen’s ruling against an application by prosecutor advocate Billy Downer who wanted the matter to be held virtually like before.
Zuma, who is currently serving his 15 months jail sentence at Escourt prison for contempt of court, will have to travel to the Pietermaritzburg High Court.
Zuma’s legal team, who wants Downer to be removed from the case, had argued they do not believe Zuma will have a fair trial.
Judge Koen has ruled that all parties should come to court instead of the proceedings being heard virtually.
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