ANC ‘notes’ SCA spy tapes ruling

THE ANC said it noted the Supreme Court of Appeal’s order that the so-called Zuma “spy tapes” be released, after opposition by President Jacob Zuma.

“We trust that today’s outcome will bring the matter closer to finality,” African National Congress spokesman Zizi Kodwa said in a statement this morning.

The court ruled that within five days, the National Prosecuting Authority had to comply with a previous order, in an application brought by the Democratic Alliance, to release the tapes.

The actual recordings, internal memoranda, reports and minutes of meetings dealing with the contents of the recordings had to be provided.

Conversations on the recordings were cited as a reason to drop fraud and corruption charges against Zuma, shortly before he was sworn in as president in 2009.

The tapes allegedly reveal collusion between the former heads of the Directorate of Special Operations, the now defunct Scorpions, Leonard McCarthy, and the NPA’s former head Bulelani Ngcuka, to manipulate the prosecutorial process before the ANC’s Polokwane conference in 2007. Zuma was elected ANC president at the conference.

At the time, acting NPA boss Mokotedi Mpshe said they showed there was a political conspiracy against Zuma and so the case could not continue.

The DA applied for access to the recordings and despite winning previous court cases could not obtain them.

Zuma’s legal team had argued in the latest application that the DA would use them against him for political gain.