Johannesburg - President Jacob Zuma’s leave to appeal the North Gauteng High Court ruling that Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa should appoint a new National Director of Public Prosecutions (NDPP) proves that he remains in charge, the DA said on Saturday.
In a statement, DA MP Glynnis Breytenbach said that Zuma's actions show that very little has changed since the December ANC elective congress.
"It shows that the ANC has not self-corrected and that Zuma is still trying to run away from the law at the taxpayers’ expense. Zuma is certainly no stranger to wasting public money.
"He did exactly this when, for example, he withdrew his court bid to interdict the release of the State of Capture report in 2016, dropped large parts of his review application of the same report in 2017, and then opposed the appointment of a judge to head the inquiry by the Chief Justice, only to give in in the end and allow Chief Justice Mogoeng Mogoeng to make the appointment after all," she said.
READ: NPA appeal papers: This is what Shaun Abrahams said
In his notice of appeal, filed in the High Court in Pretoria in December last year, Zuma said the court "erred in law in holding to be constitutionally permissible to have two presidents in the country at the same time and both exercising presidential powers".
The decision followed the High Court ruling that gave Ramaphosa two months to appoint a new head of the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) after it declared the post vacant.
Judge President Dunstan Mlambo ruled that current NDPP Shaun Abrahams should vacate his seat.
"If Ramaphosa is truly serious about combating corruption and really in charge of the ANC, hold Zuma accountable for wasting public funds," she said.