AFRICA/SOUTH AFRICA - “We appeal to all parties involved to use this unfortunate situation as an opportunity to commit themselves to good governance,” Bishops say, following corruption case involving leading Presidential candidate

Johannesburg (Agenzia Fides) - “The NPA (National Prosecuting Authority) decision not to proceed with the prosecution of Mr Jacob Zuma has denied both Mr Zuma and the Country the chance to establish his innocence or guilt once-and-for-all through the normal process of a court of law,” says Cardinal Wilfrd Napier, Archbishop of Durban and spokesman for the Southern African Catholic Bishops' Conference, in a statement sent to Agenzia Fides. Yesterday, April 6, the National Prosecuting Authority called off the court procedures for Jacob Zuma, who is accused of corruption and who is the candidate with the most likelihood of winning Presidential elections on April 22.
The Court's decision has been met with criticism, as it ends an 8-year inquiry just 2 weeks prior to elections. “However, in the interests of peace, healing and reconciliation, we appeal to all parties involved to use this unfortunate situation as an opportunity to commit themselves to good governance, with the expected accountability and transparency. It is crucial that all in position of responsibility learn from this episode to shun corruption in all its forms.”
“Let us now focus the energies of the nation on many serious problems that face South Africans who have suffered as a result of this waste of precious resources,” Cardinal Napier concluded.
Jacob Zuma is the leader of the African National Congress (ANC), the historic party of Nelson Mandela that has ruled South Africa since 1994 (the end of Apartheid), and is seen as the most likely candidate to win the Presidential elections on April 22. He will be challenged by the new political party called the “COPE” (Congress of the People), founded by former members of the ANC. The COPE was established shortly after the resignation of President Thabo Mbeki, after the ANC's Executive Committee had removed him from his role as Head of State one year ahead of the scheduled time, for his alleged involvement in a plot to indict Zuma, his main rival within the party (see Fides 19/12/2007 and 22/9/2008).
Zuma was accused of accepting bribes from a French firm, in the context of an arms deal made with South Africa in 1999. Acquitted by a judge in 2008, in early January 2009 the Supreme Court of Appeals in South Africa overturned the acquittal, thus opening the way for a new process. Yesterday's decision made by the Prosecuting Authority closes the affair in terms of the law, however not in terms of politics. (LM) (Agenzia Fides 7/4/2009)