There are no documents related to former South African president Jacob Zuma’s multi-billion dollars arms scandal in the ruling African National Congress (ANC)’s possession, the party’s deputy secretary general Jesse Duarte said on Saturday.
Duarte insisted during a press conference in Johannesburg that the party did not have any documents that would help Zuma in his pending money laundering and corruption trial related to the arms deal.
The 1999 arms scandal led to Zuma being removed from his position as the deputy president of the party and of the country by then president Thabo Mbeki, saying he had to be relieved from power due to the scandal.
Zuma recently wrote the ANC treasurer-general’s office demanding a list of payments made to the ruling party from companies that allegedly benefited from the multi-billion-dollar arms procurement contracts.
He said this would help him to prove that he neither used his position in the ANC nor in government, to his benefit from the arms deal as the state alleged in its papers in his pending corruption case.
He and Thales, a French arms manufacturer, are facing multiple charges in the multibillion arms scandal at the Pietermaritzburg High Court.
The two sides make their next appearance in court in September.
NM/jn/APA