{"id":8976,"date":"2021-04-24T18:00:57","date_gmt":"2021-04-24T18:00:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/?p=8976"},"modified":"2021-04-24T17:02:09","modified_gmt":"2021-04-24T17:02:09","slug":"human-rights-lawyer-richard-spoor-offers-to-represent-jacob-zuma-in-corruption-hearing-pro-bono","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/human-rights-lawyer-richard-spoor-offers-to-represent-jacob-zuma-in-corruption-hearing-pro-bono","title":{"rendered":"Human rights lawyer, Richard Spoor, offers to represent Jacob Zuma in corruption hearing pro-bono"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press<\/a> – South-Africa<\/a>. <\/strong><\/span>Durban – FORMER President Jacob Zuma now has the option to shelve his plans to represent himself when his arms deal linked corruption case resumes at the Pietermaritzburg High Court next month – that is if he takes up human rights lawyer Richard Spoor\u2019s offer to represent him pro bono.<\/p>\n

Zuma parted ways with his legal team composed of Advocate Muzi Sikhakhane, Eric Mabuza SC, Advocate Thabani Masuku SC, Rudolph Baloyi and Advocate Mpilo Sikhakhane.<\/p>\n

Zuma reportedly dumped his lawyers and has set his sights on defending himself in court with the former head of state said to believe that the case against him was no longer a criminal trial but a politically motivated one designed to finish him off.<\/p>\n

On Friday lawyer Spoor, who in his biography on Twitter describes himself as \u201ca public Interest lawyer with a special interest in land reform, mines and communities and compensation for occupational diseases\u201d and a \u201cmilitant non-racialist\u201d has offered to come to Zuma\u2019s aid when he heads back to court in May.<\/p>\n

Late on Thursday Spoor took to his Twitter account, which has 24 500 followers, declaring his desire to represent Zuma. \u201cI would be happy to represent the former president on a pro bono basis,\u201d Spoor posted.<\/p>\n

Under the Tweet, political analyst Jamie Mighti responded to Spoor saying: \u201cI would decline your offer if I was him. No man should be represented by a lawyer who has effectively expressed hatred for him.\u201d<\/p>\n

However, Spoor insisted that despite that he would still be willing to represent Zuma saying that a true professional sets their personal feelings aside.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have defended people charged with rape, murder and child abuse. They have a right to a defence as does everyone else. Also I don\u2019t hate anyone,\u201d Spoor retorted.<\/p>\n

Zuma\u2019s spokesperson Vukani Mathabela said that they would not comment on what is posted on social media platforms and that they would only be in a position to comment only if there was a formal discussion with Zuma on the matter.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are many people who say that they can be Msholozi\u2019s attorney, but if it\u2019s not formal and it\u2019s just on Twitter it will end up being confusing because there are many different tweets but if it is official and the president has been approached then we can take it from there but while it\u2019s just on Twitter we can\u2019t comment because he\u2019s just saying it there.<\/p>\n

\u201cOthers say they can pay Msholozi\u2019s legal fees for his attorneys\u2019 services, they tweet and others write on Facebook, but it\u2019s just their wishes. However, once it\u2019s official then we can comment but while it\u2019s just on Twitter we\u2019d rather leave it like that and not comment on it,\u201d Mathabela said.<\/p>\n

Political Bureau<\/b><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – South-Africa. Durban – FORMER President Jacob Zuma now has the option to shelve his plans to represent himself when his arms deal linked corruption case resumes at the Pietermaritzburg High Court next month – that is if he takes up human rights lawyer Richard Spoor\u2019s offer to represent him pro bono. Zuma parted […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":8975,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,7,8,12],"tags":[274,315,275],"class_list":["post-8976","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-head-lines","category-homepage-english","category-policy","tag-africa-press","tag-africa-press-south-africa","tag-south-africa-2"],"yoast_head":"\nHuman rights lawyer, Richard Spoor, offers to represent Jacob Zuma in corruption hearing pro-bono - South Africa<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Durban - FORMER President Jacob Zuma now has the option to shelve his plans to represent himself when his arms deal link ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/human-rights-lawyer-richard-spoor-offers-to-represent-jacob-zuma-in-corruption-hearing-pro-bono\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Human rights lawyer, Richard Spoor, offers to represent Jacob Zuma in corruption hearing pro-bono\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Durban - 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