S Africa drops graft charges against Zuma

South African prosecutors Monday dropped corruption charges against presidential frontrunner Jacob Zuma, ending an eight-year legal battle with elections just weeks away.

Zuma, head of the ruling ANC, will no longer face 16 counts of fraud, racketeering and money laundering, stemming from an arms scandal that has tainted South African politics for nearly a decade.

Mokotedi Mpshe, chief of the National Prosecuting Authority, told a press conference that wire-tap recordings showed the then-chief of special investigations had plotted to manipulate Zuma's legal process.

"It is neither possible nor desirable for the NPA to continue with the prosecution of Mr Zuma," Mpshe said in a move that has angered opposition parties ahead of the April 22 vote.

Zuma will appear in the Durban High Court on Tuesday morning where the decision will be formally endorsed before he briefs the press.

The 66-year-old kept out of the public eye Monday but his supporters and the African National Congress (ANC) celebrated the withdrawal as a victory, saying the corruption case was meant to frustrate him from becoming president.

"The Zuma case has all the hallmarks of a vindictive politically motivated prosecution," the party said.

The wire-tap tapes revealed Leonard McCarthy, ex-boss of the disbanded elite investigative Scorpions unit who now heads the World Bank's anti-corruption unit, conspiring over how to exact political gains from the case, Mpshe said.

The withdrawal was not based on the quality of the prosecution's case against Zuma, but because McCarthy's conduct -- which Mpshe called "pure abuse of power" -- had tainted the legal process.

"It does not amount to an acquittal," he added.

But analysts say the withdrawal did little to clarify the merits of the case against Zuma, who has steadfastly claimed no wrong-doing and who was to go on trial in August.

"We will never find out if Zuma is innocent or not," political analyst Steven Friedman said on national television.

The scandal centers on accusations that Zuma accepted bribes for protecting French arms company Thales in an investigation into a controversial multi-million-dollar weapons deal.

Since the investigation began in 2001, the charges have been repeatedly dropped and revived, sending shock waves through the country's political scene.

A 2008 court ruling -- since overturned -- implied that then-president Thabo Mbeki had interfered in Zuma's prosecution.

The ANC used the ruling to force Mbeki from office, leading to a breakaway party, the Congress of the People (COPE), which condemned the dropping of the case.

"South Africa deserves better. The dream of 1994 is dying, killed by the ANC and its alliance partners -- South Africa is in great peril," it said.

The main opposition Democratic Alliance plans to challenge the decision in court Tuesday, saying Zuma still had a case to answer but that prosecutors had bowed to political pressure.

As the election approaches, the furor over the corruption scandal has grown.

One month ago Schabir Shaik, a wealthy businessman convicted of bribing Zuma, was released on medical parole less than three years into a 15-year sentence.

His release raised eyebrows because just days earlier Zuma had said he might use medical grounds as a reason to parole Shaik, a close aide and financial adviser, if he became president.

Faced with the challenge of proving that Zuma did not receive the bribes Shaik was convicted of having given him, Zuma's lawyers brought prosecutors wire-tap recordings of McCarthy speaking about the case.

Despite the scandal clouding Zuma's campaign, a poll released Friday found the ANC was still expected to secure more than 64% of the vote.

© Wire reports