Former South African president Jacob Zuma appears in court in Durban, South Africa, June 8, 2018. Marco Longari/Pool via REUTERS

Home » French Company Thales Loses Final Bid to Avoid Arms Deal Trial

French Company Thales Loses Final Bid to Avoid Arms Deal Trial

The French company Thales has lost its last bid to avoid going to trial for allegedly offering Jacob Zuma a bribe to protect the company against any prosecution that might arise out of the R60 billion arms deal 15 years ago, according to news reports today. In its decision, the Constitutional Court dismissed Thales’ appeal […]

By Ted Botha
08-05-20 11:43
in Featured
Former South African president Jacob Zuma appears in court in Durban, South Africa, June 8, 2018. Marco Longari/Pool via REUTERS

The French company Thales has lost its last bid to avoid going to trial for allegedly offering Jacob Zuma a bribe to protect the company against any prosecution that might arise out of the R60 billion arms deal 15 years ago, according to news reports today.

Former South African president Jacob Zuma appears in court in Durban, South Africa, June 8, 2018. Marco Longari/Pool via REUTERS

In its decision, the Constitutional Court dismissed Thales’ appeal to stop the arms deal trial going ahead, saying the appeal had little reasonable chance of success. Zuma withdrew a similar challenge earlier, but Thales carried on with its own appeal. The arms deal court case is set to resume on June 23.

Thales is alleged to have offered Zuma, who was then deputy president, R500,000 a year to protect the company against any possible prosecution over the R60 billion arms deal.