Zuma is an ‘easy target’ in R28.9m court order

FORMER president Jacob Zuma never asked for the R28.9 million bill for his private legal fees, say his legal representatives in their bid to overturn a high court judgment ordering him to pay back the money.

- ZELDA VENTER

The Gauteng High Court, Pretoria, was yesterday told that while Zuma is an innocent party and the real wrongdoers are the State officials who authorised the payments.

In asking for leave to appeal the judgment, Thabani Masuku, argued that neither the full court nor the Supreme Court of Appeal’s (SCA) orders ever said Zuma was the one liable for the legal bill.

Masuku told Judge Anthony Millar that he had erred in his judgment when he specifically pinpointed Zuma as the liable party.

He argued that Judge Millar's judgment was premised on the previous two judgments, which simply said the money had to be paid back into the State coffers due to irregular expenditure.