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The National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) has decided not to prosecute anyone for the alleged poisoning of former president Jacob Zuma. 

It was reported yesterday that there was no evidence to pursue the case, according to a letter to the Hawks written by acting KwaZulu-Natal director of public prosecutions, advocate Elaine Zungu. 

Zuma had reportedly also not provided a statement detailing the alleged poisoning attempt on his life. Zungu said, because of this, she could not even refer to Zuma as a complainant.

Former president Jacob Zuma didn’t mince his words during his first appearance at the judicial commission of inquiry into allegations of state capture on Monday.

In 2015, one of Zuma’s wives, Nompumelelo Ntuli-Zuma, was banned from his Nkandla compound by then state security minister David Mahlobo following “revelations” of her suspected involvement in a plot to poison Zuma, News24 reported.

Ulrich Roux, the director of BDK Attorneys, at the time said it was common knowledge that Ntuli-Zuma, also known as MaNtuli, was no longer living in Nkandla.

MaNtuli is the second of the Zuma’s four wives.

“My client has not been residing at the Nkandla homestead since January 2015, after having been instructed by Minister of State Security, David Mahlobo, to vacate the Nkandla residence, pending an alleged investigation. She is currently residing, together with her three minor children, in a house in the Greytown area,” Roux said.

The Sunday Times reported that in early August 2014, during a trip to the US, doctors diagnosed an ailing Zuma as having been poisoned.

However, not trusting US doctors, Zuma went to Russia later that month for treatment. Russian doctors reportedly confirmed the diagnosis.

Business Day reports that, according to Zungu, State Security Agency (SSA) reports on the alleged attempts on Zuma’s life “contain no evidence at all that Mr Zuma was poisoned, let alone by whom”.

Zungu’s decision not to prosecute reportedly comes after lawyers for Ntuli-Zuma pushed the state to make a call on whether she would be formally charged over the alleged poisoning of her husband.

Roux told Business Day on Thursday that he had seen the formal withdrawal of criminal charges against the former first lady. His client was weighing her options. 

Roux reportedly said it was a travesty of justice that his client was a victim of what he called “politically motivated trumped-up” charges.

The publication could not elicit comment from Mahlobo or Zuma. — Sapa