{"id":91887,"date":"2025-10-22T15:59:28","date_gmt":"2025-10-22T15:59:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/high-court-orders-zuma-to-pay-r29-million-in-legal-fees"},"modified":"2025-10-22T16:28:11","modified_gmt":"2025-10-22T16:28:11","slug":"high-court-orders-zuma-to-pay-r29-million-in-legal-fees","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/high-court-orders-zuma-to-pay-r29-million-in-legal-fees","title":{"rendered":"High Court Orders Zuma to Pay R29 Million in Legal Fees"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – South-Africa. <\/strong><\/span>Former President Jacob Zuma has been ordered to repay nearly R29 million in legal fees that were unlawfully funded by the State.<\/p>\n

The Pretoria High Court has on Wednesday handed down the ruling, confirming the money was used to cover Zuma\u2019s personal legal costs in criminal and related proceedings.<\/p>\n

The judgment follows years of litigation, with both the Democratic Alliance (DA) and the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) pushing for accountability.<\/p>\n

The Pretoria High Court has found the legal payments violated principles of public accountability and the rule of law.<\/p>\n

Jacob Zuma now has 60 days to settle the debt.<\/p>\n

If he fails to do so, the State Attorney has been instructed to begin asset attachment proceedings, which may include his presidential pension, though subject to further judicial oversight.<\/p>\n

Interest on the debt will accrue from October 2021, and the State Attorney must report to the court every three months on efforts to recover the funds.<\/p>\n

Zuma\u2019s legal team has argued he was not personally liable, but the court has dismissed those claims, stating the repayment order clearly applies to him.<\/p>\n

‘BIG WIN FOR SOUTH AFRICANS’ – DA<\/b><\/p>\n

The Democratic Alliance (DA) has described a court ruling compelling Zuma to pay up as a victory for taxpayers.<\/p>\n

The amount relates to Zuma\u2019s legal fees during the long-running arms deal corruption case.<\/p>\n

Between 2005 and 2019, the State covered Zuma\u2019s legal costs for his personal corruption matter, which dates back to his tenure as deputy president.<\/p>\n

The DA\u2019s spokesperson Willie Aucamp explained: \u201cThis is a big win for all South Africans. It shows you that no one is above the law and that you will not get away with wasting the government\u2019s money. The DA will not allow that.\u201d<\/p>\n

For More News And Analysis About South-Africa<\/span> Follow Africa-Press<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – South-Africa. Former President Jacob Zuma has been ordered to repay nearly R29 million in legal fees that were unlawfully funded by the State. The Pretoria High Court has on Wednesday handed down the ruling, confirming the money was used to cover Zuma\u2019s personal legal costs in criminal and related proceedings. The judgment follows […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":91886,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,7,12],"tags":[275],"class_list":["post-91887","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-head-lines","category-policy","tag-south-africa-2"],"yoast_head":"\nHigh Court Orders Zuma to Pay R29 Million in Legal Fees - South Africa<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Former President Jacob Zuma has been ordered to repay nearly R29 million in legal fees that were unlawfully funded by th ...\" \/>\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\/high-court-orders-zuma-to-pay-r29-million-in-legal-fees\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"High Court Orders Zuma to Pay R29 Million in Legal Fees\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Former President Jacob Zuma has been ordered to repay nearly R29 million in legal fees that were unlawfully funded by th ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/high-court-orders-zuma-to-pay-r29-million-in-legal-fees\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"South Africa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-10-22T15:59:28+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-10-22T16:28:11+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/sites\/31\/2025\/10\/sm_1761137796.288914.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"630\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/high-court-orders-zuma-to-pay-r29-million-in-legal-fees#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/high-court-orders-zuma-to-pay-r29-million-in-legal-fees\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"High Court Orders Zuma to Pay R29 Million in Legal Fees\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-10-22T15:59:28+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-10-22T16:28:11+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/high-court-orders-zuma-to-pay-r29-million-in-legal-fees\"},\"wordCount\":312,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/high-court-orders-zuma-to-pay-r29-million-in-legal-fees#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/sites\/31\/2025\/10\/sm_1761137796.288914.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"South-Africa\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"head lines\",\"policy\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/high-court-orders-zuma-to-pay-r29-million-in-legal-fees#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/high-court-orders-zuma-to-pay-r29-million-in-legal-fees\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/high-court-orders-zuma-to-pay-r29-million-in-legal-fees\",\"name\":\"High Court Orders Zuma to Pay R29 Million in Legal Fees - 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