JOHANNESBURG (AFP) — ANC leader Jacob Zuma's upcoming graft trial is a malicious conspiracy, his key allies said Thursday, warning only death would stop them from making him South African president.
Heavyweight political allies, including the African National Congress youth wing, student parties and the South African Communist Party called for a permanent stay of prosecution, declaring he could not have a fair trial.
"Jacob Zuma has been a target of political malice which has been veiled under the cloak of a justifiable legal process," the groups said in a joint statement on the trial of their party leader due to start on August 4.
Reiterating long-standing claims that seven years of investigations to prosecute Zuma were an attempt to prevent him from becoming president, the groups called for all charges against him to be withdrawn.
"The seven year delay by the National Prosecuting Authority to charge Jacob Zuma is clearly intended to serve a political purpose by ensuring that he does not become President of the Republic, and at worst, to rubbish his name under the guise of equality before the law."
Zuma faces 16 charges ranging from money-laundering to racketeering, and his trial is expected to drag on beyond general elections in April 2009 as his lawyers are expected to kick off the trial by applying for a permanent stay of prosecution.
Zuma has previously said he would stand down if convicted.
"Now we say, come 2009 he will become president of the Republic and only death can stop us from ensuring that this happens," read the statement.
"This we do as a commitment to the defence of his constitutional rights. We will never allow, in our lifetime, the trampling of anyone's constitutional rights, especially those of Jacob Zuma."
The groups also launched a renewed attack on the country's Constitutional Court judges, who recently laid a complaint against a top judge who they accused of trying to influence them in matters related to the Zuma trial.
The ANC's secretary-general Gwede Mantashe said recently the complaint was an attack on Zuma and the party, and named judges as part of "counter-revolutionary" forces in the country.
"We call on judges to either stick to their daily jobs, or form political parties if they want to play politics. They are no gods," said the statement.
South Africa's official opposition Democratic Alliance criticised attempts by the ANC "to convince the public that Jacob Zuma must be acquitted in the court of public opinion for his alleged bribery and corruption offences or else face political instability."
This comes after ANC Youth League leader Julius Malema told a provincial congress Zuma will rule even if he has to rule from prison.
"If he is found guilty, the ANC should forward another candidate," the Democratic Alliance said in a statement.
"It is not for Malema to bludgeon South Africans into a political future which they would not otherwise have consented to through threats of violence."
Zuma's original corruption case was struck off the roll in 2006 by a judge who told the state their case was a disaster.
Zuma, 66, who toppled South African President Thabo Mbeki as leader of the ANC at a conference in December, was recharged shortly after he was elected.
He was sacked by Mbeki as deputy head of state in 2005 after his former financial adviser, Schabir Shaik, was handed a 15-year prison sentence for paying him bribes.
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