Former President Jacob Zuma's corruption trial, which has been 17 years in the making, is finally set to go ahead in April next year.
That's after his special plea application was dismissed in the Pietermaritzburg High Court on Tuesday.
The 79-year-old Zuma had applied for the recusal of State Prosecutor, Advocate Billy Downer, from his corruption trial relating to the multi-billion rand Arms Deal of the 1990's.
Since August last year, Zuma has been engaged in a court fight against Downer, accusing him of engaging in unethical conduct which also included leaking his medical records to the media.
However, In a 107-page judgement, KZN High Court Judge Piet Koen ruled that he could find no grounds to grant the recusal of Downer.
Downer told the court that the State and the Defence had agreed on the 11th of April next year as the start date of Zuma's corruption trial in which he faces 16 charges of fraud, graft and racketeering.
A crime of Graft is a form of political corruption that involves the misdirection of public funds by a government official for the benefit of private interests.
