The African National Congress (ANC) has reacted to the announcement by National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) head Shaun Abrahams that former president Jacob Zuma will be prosecuted on corruption charges.

The ANC says the former president must be presumed innocent until proven guilty.

The party says it will not drop Zuma from its election campaign program despite him facing corruption charges.

The ANC has previously supported its former president as the Democratic Alliance (DA) pushed for corruption charges against him to be reinstated, saying they would support him until he was proven guilty in a court of law.

Zuma is no longer the leader of the ANC, but he is still active in the party, attending its elections workshops and helping to campaign ahead of the 2019 elections.

ANC spokesperson Pule Mabe says the party will still use Zuma during campaigns despite him facing charges.

“Mr Zuma is innocent until proven otherwise.”

He says this won’t have an impact on the ANC.

“We’ll be able to use some of the platforms available to him to try and create the clarity required by society.”

The ANC has called on South Africans to afford the NPA space to conduct its work unhindered, saying its former president must be presumed innocent until proven guilty.

Abrahams told a media conference on Friday afternoon that Zuma’s attempt to head off the charges had been unsuccessful.

He says the former president disputes all the allegations against him, and that he lacked the requisite intent to commit the crimes.

Zuma will face 16 charges relating to 783 instances of alleged wrongdoing.

HISTORIC DAY

Meanwhile, the Democratic Alliance (DA), which has been pursuing Zuma since he assumed office in 2009 demanding that corruption charges against the former president be reinstated, has described the NPA’s decision as historic.

DA leader Mmusi Maimane says the party is happy that Zuma will finally face the full might of the law.

“It’s a historic day to ensure that there’s accountability effected on Mr Zuma. We now need to ensure that the state does not finance his legal fees, Mr Zuma has his day in court and, ultimately, we must ensure that his charges of racketeering, corruption, money laundering are prosecuted to the full length.”- EWN