Jacob Zuma Battles Court Order To Repay R28.9 Million In Legal Fees

The Gauteng High Court in Pretoria on Monday faced a pivotal question: why former president Jacob Zuma should be held responsible for repaying R28.9 million in State-funded private legal fees when, according to his legal team, he did nothing wrong and the fault lies with the officials who authorised the payments.

Zuma is seeking leave to appeal a judgment compelling him to return the funds. His advocate, Thabani Masuku, argued that neither the full bench nor the Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) had explicitly stated that Zuma himself was liable for the amount.

Masuku told Judge Anthony Millar that the court had erred by singling out Zuma, saying the earlier rulings only required the money to be returned to the State because the expenditure was irregular.

Why Jacob Zuma Says He Shouldn’t Pay Back the Millions

Masuku insisted the court should have asked whether it was “justifiable and equitable” to force Zuma to pay such a substantial sum when previous courts did not find that he acted unlawfully.

Judge Millar questioned whether Zuma should escape liability despite having benefited from the State funds.

Responding, Masuku argued that the decision to fund Zuma’s legal costs came from the State Attorney and the Presidency, not from Zuma himself. Although the decision was later declared unlawful, he said Zuma “never asked for the money”.

He added that the state is responsible for safeguarding public funds and questioned why officials who authorised the payments were not held accountable. Instead, Zuma was made to bear the cost because he was an “easy target”, Masuku said.

He urged that leave to appeal be granted either to a full bench or to the SCA, saying a different court might take a broader view of the matter.

State Pushes Back, DA Seeks Interest on Repayment

Opposing the application, Advocate George Avakoumides—representing the President and other State departments—argued that prior court decisions were clear: the money must be paid back, and Zuma is liable.

“It is clear that it is he (Zuma) who has to pay the money back,” Avakoumides said, adding that this court could not revisit issues already settled by the full bench and the SCA.

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Masuku also challenged Judge Millar’s ruling granting the Democratic Alliance’s request for Zuma to pay interest on the R28.9 million, arguing that no other party had raised this issue as part of the application.

Judge Millar had previously ordered Zuma to repay the full amount to the State Attorney, with interest at the prescribed rate, within 60 days. Failure to do so would allow the State Attorney to attach his assets. The appeal bid has temporarily suspended that order.

Judgment on the leave to appeal application has been reserved.

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