Pretoria – The North Gauteng High Court in Pretoria must interpret a ruling by the Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) compelling the NPA to hand over the so-called Zuma spy tapes to the DA, the court heard on Wednesday.

“The issue in this matter is the interpretation of the SCA order,” said Sean Rosenburg SC, for the Democratic Alliance.

He was responding to a question by Judge Rami Mathopo on whether the pivotal issue was determining whether the documents sought were affected by confidentiality.

“This is why you are all here. We know that they [the SCA] left the issue to me,” Mathopo said.

“If the third respondent [President Jacob Zuma] says I do not want the first respondent [the National Prosecuting Authority] to disclose the documents because my confidentiality is affected, you have to persuade me that that confidentiality does not exist.”

Rosenburg said the NPA was in contempt of court for not complying with the SCA order to release certain documents and tapes.

“There are two elements to this case. The first is an application to compel the production of the record [the documents and tapes].

“The second is to seek relief with regards to a contempt of the court. Both applications are strong,” he told the court.

The DA wants access to the so-called Zuma spy tapes, recordings of intercepted phone conversations, which the party believes will shed light on the dropped fraud and corruption charges against Zuma.

The recordings formed the basis for a decision in 2009 by then acting National Prosecuting Authority head Mokotedi Mpshe to drop the charges.

SAPA