Judge defers Zuma graft case ruling to September 12 (2nd Roundup)

Pietermaritzburg, South Africa - The judge hearing an application by South Africa's ruling African National Congress (ANC) leader Jacob Zuma to have corruption charges against him thrown out reserved judgement Tuesday in the case. Pietermaritzburg High Court Judge Chris Nicholson said that given the complexity of the case he would reserve judgement in the application until September 12. Zuma, the ANC's candidate for president in 2009 elections, meanwhile, vowed he would take down other officials if the state continued to pursue him for alleged corruption in a state arms deal. Speaking at the end of the two-day court hearing on the legality fo the charges laid against him last year, Zuma promised his supporters that the 'whole truth' about the arms deal might be revealed if he were put on trial. 'Thirty million, thirty million,' the crowd chanted in response, referring to a weekend local newspaper report alleging President Thabo Mbeki had taken money from a German arms dealer on behalf of the ANC. The judge ruled that the provisional date for the main case against Zuma should remain December 8. But the state and Zuma will get an opportunity to haggle over that date at a hearing set aside specifically to deal with the matter on August 15. In December last year, Zuma was charged with corruption, racketeering, fraud and money laundering in a 1990s state arms deal. Zuma, 66, had brought an application before the court to have the charges against him thrown out on the basis that the state did not allow him to make representations about the charges before indicting him. Counsel for the state, Wim Trengrove, argued Tuesday that Zuma's claims that the state had acted illegally were 'scurrilous and irrelevant to the causes of action.' Zuma appeared relaxed Tuesday, saluting dozens of supporters from the ANC and the allied trade union movement and Communist Party allies as he entered the courtroom. Outside, hundreds of Zuma supporters that have been maintaining a vigil outside the court since Sunday night had eagerly awaited his speech on the case. Zuma was first charged with corruption over the multibillion- dollar arms deal in 2005 but the case was thrown out of the same Pietermaritzburg court in 2006 over prosecution delays in submitting evidence. Armed with fresh evidence the state brought new charges against him in December 2007, a few days after he romped to victory over Mbeki in an ANC leadership race. Zuma's supporters claim the state's tenacious pursuit of the case, and the timing of the latest charges, are part of a politically-inspired attempt to bar him from becoming president - a charge state prosecutors deny. His supporters also include the ANC top brass. Addressing at least 2,000 people crammed into a square opposite the courthouse in the capital of his native KwaZulu-Natal province, Zuma slammed the media for accusing him of using delaying tactics to stave off his day in court. Speaking in Zulu, he said he was only exercising his constitutional rights by challenging the state's case in several courts before he went to trial. Referring to verbal attacks by leading ANC members in recent weeks on judges involved in his case, Zuma said if the judiciary was wrong it 'needed to be told.' The ANC has named Zuma as its candidate to succeed Mbeki when his second term expires at next year's general elections that the party is expected to win. Some of Zuma's supporters point a finger for his prosecution directly at Mbeki, who lost the ANC presidency to Zuma in December. Mbeki dismissed Zuma as deputy president over the corruption allegations in 2005. 'We are convinced that this conspiracy is being led by the state president against our president,' Julius Malema, the firebrand leader of the ANC Youth League said. 'We are prepared to die for Zuma,' said Malema, who recently caused a stir when declaring he would 'kill' for Zuma. In a sign of animosity among Zuma supporters towards Mbeki, one youth torched a photo of Mbeki at Tuesday's rally.