Former South African president Jacob Zuma has told the Johannesburg High Court that he intends to appeal its ruling to stop him from privately prosecuting President Cyril Ramaphosa for being an “accessory after the fact” in another case in which he is suing a prosecutor for leaking his medical records.The court has set 26 May for the appeal to hear Zuma’s court interdict arguments in connection with the public leaking of his medical records during a trial.   

Zuma said Ramaphosa’s failure to act on the alleged breach compromised the National Prosecution Authority, and by extension, the criminal justice system as a whole.

A full bench of the high court on Monday granted Ramaphosa an interim relief to stop Zuma from taking any further steps in his private prosecution of the president.

But Zuma told the high court that he would appeal the Monday ruling and privately prosecute Ramaphosa himself, with the aid of his legal representative Dali Mpofu.

“Instructions that we have are to appeal the order that was given on Monday, albeit, we know it’s an interim order,” Mpofu told judge Ishmael Mohammed on Thursday.

He said the purpose of the high court appearance by the former president, in his capacity as the private prosecutor, was to ensure that the matter remained on the court roll.