The Oscar Pistorius trial had people right around the world glued to their screens, and thanks to that Gerrie Nel is now a name we are all familiar with.

Known as ‘The Bulldog’ for his tenacity, Nel’s name was back in the headlines when he recently joined AfriForum. Heading up the private prosecutions unit was sure to keep him busy, but it’s one target that has caught the attention of Max du Preez.

In his latest column for News24, Max outlines why Nel might be the man who finally brings Zuma to book. Some of what he had to say below:

The generally accepted theory is that Zuma prefers his ex-wife and mother of four of his children, Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, as successor because she would supposedly protect him from going to jail.

Legal minds agree that the court is likely to order Zuma to stand trial. The only way he could avoid being back in the dock on the 783 charges that were controversially withdrawn, would be a refusal by the National Prosecuting Authtority (NPA) to charge him.

This plan has one weakness, and its name is Gerrie Nel, the bulldog prosecutor now focusing on private prosecutions.

If the NPA finds a reason why it could not haul Zuma before court, Nel could ask it for a certificate declaring this and then he will be able to launch a private prosecution.

If the NPA refuses to issue this nolle prosequi certificate, Nel can get the courts to force it to do it.

It will probably not be hard to prove the case against Zuma. The gist of the evidence against him was accepted by the court in the Schabir Shaik trial and confirmed on appeal.

No wonder Jacob is so keen to see ex-wife Dlamini-Zuma take over. Someone who isn’t keen to see DZ rule the roost is Richard Poplak – you can see his scathing attack HERE.

Anyway, back to Gerrie:

Nel’s former colleagues at the NPA, particularly Billy Downer, had prepared what they called a water tight case against Zuma. Surely Nel must have had access to that.

In fact, Nel could try and make additional charges stick. According to the Sunday Times, the Pretoria attorney Ajay Sooklal stated in an affidavit that Zuma had asked him in August 2012 not to give testimony to the Seriti Commission into the arms scandal and not to divulge the fact that Zuma had received money and favours from a French arms dealer.

These allegations, if true, amount to bribery and defeating the ends of justice.

If the court decides in the next few months that the charges be reinstated, Zuma will likely employ his old tricks of playing for time. This has been successful for years, but it has reached a point where all these appeals and postponements have to come to an end.

That phrase ‘in the next few months’ will have many South Africans licking their lips, although by now we’re all so resigned to seeing JZ wriggle his way off the hook that I’ll reserve the smug grin for when he is actually in the docks.

Such a court case would have a massive bearing on the route that the ANC decides to take, too:

This would be a huge blow for the Zuma brand, a blow that would be felt by the Hyphenated Zuma in her quest to become the new ANC president in December.

Many members of the ANC’s national executive committee and provincial structures are in fact waiting to see which faction is the strongest.

If it appears that Zuma is going to end spending many months in court and then gets sentenced to jail time, they will conclude that the Ramaphosa camp is in the lead and they will jump ship.

Find the political hand that feeds you and hang on for dear life – it’s the same all over the world.

Who knows if Gerrie Nel will be the man to eventually bring down Public Enemy Number One, but if he is then I’ll be buying him a cold one or two.

[source:news24]