Editing Thabo Mbeki (section)

===High court finding and appeal===
{{Further|Jacob Zuma corruption charges#September 2008: Charges declared unlawful|label1=Jacob Zuma corruption charges § Second indictment}}
On 12 September 2008, [[Pietermaritzburg High Court]] judge [[Christopher Robert Nicholson|Chris Nicholson]] set aside the corruption charges against Zuma. He found that the charges were unlawful on the procedural grounds that the NPA had not given Zuma adequate opportunity to make representations.<ref name="dismiss22">{{cite news|last=Zigomo|first=Muchena|date=11 September 2008|title=South African judge throws out Zuma graft case|newspaper=[[Reuters]]|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-safrica-zuma-idUSLC54653420080912|url-status=live|access-date=27 November 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141129050546/http://www.chinapost.com.tw/international/africa/2008/09/13/174479/S.-African.htm|archive-date=29 November 2014}}</ref><ref name="BBC News-2008">{{cite news|date=12 September 2008|title=SA court rejects Zuma graft case|work=BBC News|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7612233.stm|url-status=live|access-date=15 September 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110512100849/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7612233.stm|archive-date=12 May 2011}}</ref><ref name="Orr-2008">{{cite news|author=Orr|first=James|date=12 September 2008|title=South African court clears way for Zuma presidential run|work=The Guardian|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2008/sep/12/southafrica|url-status=live|access-date=15 September 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130902225553/http://www.theguardian.com/world/2008/sep/12/southafrica|archive-date=2 September 2013}}</ref> Nicholson also lent his support to allegations that Zuma's charges had been politically motivated, saying that he was "not convinced that [Zuma] was incorrect when he averred political meddling in his prosecution" and that the case seemed to be part of "some great political contest or game."<ref name="dismiss22" /><ref name="Orr-2008" /> Mbeki later applied to the Constitutional Court to appeal the judgement, calling Nicholson's findings about political interference "vexatious, scandalous and prejudicial."<ref name="AFP-2008">{{cite web|author=AFP|date=23 September 2008|title=Mbeki challenges court ruling to defend reputation|url=http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5jwg5P3sBxc05Xyc8vZeZ_g9yzAcA|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110514090114/http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5jwg5P3sBxc05Xyc8vZeZ_g9yzAcA|archive-date=14 May 2011|access-date=15 September 2010|website=Google News}}</ref> The NPA also appealed, and in January 2009 the [[Supreme Court of Appeal (South Africa)|Supreme Court of Appeal]] found in its favour and overturned Nicholson's ruling. Partially redeeming Mbeki, the appellate court said that Nicholson's allegations of political interference had been irrelevant to Nicholson's decision and had apparently derived from Nicholson's "own conspiracy theory."<ref name="upholdsndpp2">{{cite news|last1=John|first1=Mark|last2=Kulikov|first2=Yuri|date=12 January 2009|title=Court upholds NDPP appeal in Zuma case|work=[[Mail & Guardian]]|url=https://mg.co.za/article/2009-01-12-zuma-not-off-the-hook|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170420072934/https://mg.co.za/article/2009-01-12-zuma-not-off-the-hook|archive-date=20 April 2017}}</ref><ref name="Maughan-2009">{{cite web|last=Maughan|first=Karyn|date=2009-01-12|title=SCA opens the door for new Zuma charges|url=https://www.iol.co.za/news/politics/sca-opens-the-door-for-new-zuma-charges-430966|access-date=2022-01-11|website=IOL|language=en}}</ref>