Judge Nkosinathi Chili of the Pietermaritzburg High Court has ordered Jacob Zuma and French arms manufacturer Thales to stop blocking their corruption trial through procedural challenges, directing both the state and the defence to coordinate with the court’s registrar to establish firm trial dates.
The charges against Zuma and Thales stem from a multibillion-rand arms procurement process conducted in the early 2000s. Both defendants face allegations of corruption, fraud, and racketeering tied to that transaction. Their legal strategy has involved filing successive interlocutory applications, a pattern that Zuma’s former counsel, the late Kemp J Kemp SC, famously called “Stalingrad tactics,” describing the deliberate use of procedural challenges as instruments of delay.
Additional reference context is available at https://mg.co.za/news/2026-05-14-zuma-and-thales-ordered-to-stop-stalingrad-tactics-in-arms-deal-trial/.
Chili’s ruling makes clear that the trial must proceed regardless of any pending interlocutory applications from either side. The judge stated that the interests of justice demanded immediate action to commence proceedings, following the court’s dismissal of Thales’ and Zuma’s application for leave to appeal.
Zuma and Thales had petitioned the court to drop the charges entirely, arguing that the deaths of key witnesses would make a fair trial impossible. Chili rejected that premise outright. Without judicial intervention at this stage, he found, there was a genuine risk of grave injustice and serious damage to public confidence in the judicial system itself.
The judge articulated a broader principle. While the interests of the accused must receive consideration, the court also bears an obligation to the public and to society at large. Criminal prosecutions of constitutional significance cannot remain perpetually suspended. Chili stated that the court has a duty to maintain public confidence in judicial authority and to ensure the timely progression of criminal trials. As reported by the Mail and Guardian at mg.co.za/news/2026-05-14-zuma-and-thales-ordered-to-stop-stalingrad-tactics-in-arms-deal-trial/, allowing the defence strategy to succeed in indefinitely blocking trial commencement would undermine the integrity of both the court and the broader justice system.
Chili acknowledged that reasonable members of the public would grow concerned if the trial were halted without Zuma facing the allegations against him. He identified no cognizable harm or grave injustice that would result from proceeding despite pending interlocutory applications. Zuma and Thales retain meaningful legal remedies, the judge noted, as their right of appeal remains protected under Section 316 of the Criminal Procedure Act, read together with Section 35(3)(o) of the Constitution.
By contrast, the years of procedural maneuvering have produced no resolution on the substantive charges. The ruling draws a line under that period. What remains open is whether Zuma or Thales will mount fresh legal challenges before firm dates are set, and whether those attempts will test the court’s patience a final time.