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Former South African deputy PM charged with graft

South Africa's former deputy president Jacob Zuma and two French arms companies were formally indicted on a corruption charge on Friday in preparation for a potentially explosive trial set to begin on July 31.

Zuma was dismissed as deputy president in June, but is still No. 2 in the ruling African National Congress (ANC) and retains huge support among the rank and file of the movement. For that reason, the corruption scandal has created a widening rift in the ANC.

The case also has thrown wide open the question of who will succeed President Thabo Mbeki at the end of his final term in 2009. Zuma was the once the favorite to be Mbeki's successor.

National Prosecuting Authority spokesman Makhosini Nkosi said Thint Holdings, formerly known as Thomson-CSF, and Thint, formerly known as Thomson, had been named as accused numbers two and three.

"Written notice to appear at the Durban High Court on July 31, 2006 was served on both Thint companies in Pretoria this morning [Friday]," Nkosi said.

Nkosi said that the companies would face charges of corruption related to those of Zuma.

Zuma has made one appearance on an initial charge of corruption that emanated from the trial of his former financial adviser Schabir Shaik, who is appealing his 15-year jail sentence for fraud and corruption.

Zuma has repeatedly protested his innocence and made it plain that he has not relinquished his ambitions of becoming president.
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