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Johannesburg - The handover of the spy tapes to the Democratic Alliance was delayed by an hour today, but the tapes were finally handed over to the party’s leader, Helen Zille, this afternoon.
The delay came after North Gauteng High Court deputy judge president Aubrey Ledwaba asked to view the judgment that was in favour of the DA.
According to Zille, Ledwaba wanted to satisfy himself that all processes were followed in accordance with the Supreme Court of Appeal judgment.
Zille was met by more than 150 DA supporters who had gathered at the high court in anticipation of the handover.
In 2009 the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) used the spy tapes as the basis for the withdrawal of corruption charges against President Jacob Zuma.
At the time, the NPA agreed with Zuma’s views that a conversation between former NPA boss Bulelani Ngcuka and then Scorpions boss Leonard McCarthy was proof that there was a “political conspiracy” against Zuma.
The DA said it wanted to listen to the tapes to see if there was reason to drop the charges against Zuma.
Zille said the party had spent R10m in six court cases in the past five years to get their hands on the so-called spy tapes to prove that the decision to withdraw charges was “political” rather than legal.
