Today was always going to be a big day in the ongoing ‘Spy Tapes’ saga.

No doubt diarised by every political party, the Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) would announce its decision on whether it would hear President Jacob Zuma’s appeal on the matter.

According to EWN, here’s where we stood earlier before the announcement:

Last week, the Constitutional Court said it would not hear the National Prosecuting Authority’s appeal at this stage, seemingly mindful of the pending decision at the SCA.

The High Court in Pretoria ruled earlier this year that the 2009 decision to withdraw fraud and corruption charges against Zuma was irrational and set aside.

The effect of the decision means the charges against the president are re-instated.

The NPA withdrew the charges in 2009 after Zuma made representations which included intercepted telephone conversation which appeared to show a conspiracy against him.

And now for the downer.

Just moments ago, the SCA granted President Jacob Zuma’s legal team the opportunity to argue why he should be permitted to appeal – some classic stalling of course – but the appeal will have to take place in an open court.

This means the parties will present themselves in the Bloemfontein court, to argue before a full bench of judges on why this matter should be heard. EWN broke the story and explained that:

The proceedings are likely to be a repeat of the argument presented in the High Court earlier this year, which was subsequently dismissed.

The Supreme Court has given the legal teams three months to file all the necessary legal paperwork.

And so the saga continues…

[source:ewn&ewn]