SAfrica allows documents in Zuma corruption case

JOHANNESBURG, June 5 (Reuters) A South African court today granted the state permission to obtain documents from Mauritius which prosecutors want for a possible new corruption case against ex-Deputy President Jacob Zuma, state radio said.

The decision could be a blow to the controversial politician, who is expected to be a strong candidate in the race to lead the ruling African National Congress (ANC).

''The Durban High Court granted the state's application for an execution order allowing it to obtain documents from Mauritius in the Jacob Zuma case,'' SAFM reported.

Zuma has remained popular after surviving several corruption allegations and scandals but the decision to allow the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) to get the documents from Mauritius is likely to heat up political tensions in South Africa.

Once seen as the front-runner to succeed President Thabo Mbeki in 2009, Zuma was fired as Mbeki's deputy after he was implicated in the corruption trial of his former financial aide, Schabir Shaik involving an 1999 arms procurement scandal.

Zuma was charged but the government's case collapsed last September.

Prosecutors continued to investigate and in April, the court approved their bid to request documents that Mauritian authorities seized from a local branch of a French arms contractor.

Prosecutors had earlier obtained copies of the documents, but the NPA now wants originals including a diary in which a former head of the French firm, Thint, made a note of a meeting he allegedly had with Zuma and Shaik about a bribe for Zuma.

Lawyers representing Zuma and Thint had argued prosecutors acted improperly in obtaining copies of the documents and should therefore be prevented from trying to get the originals.

A former hero of South Africa's anti-apartheid struggle, Zuma says charges against him are part of a political plot in the ANC to prevent him from becoming president.

The ANC, which is already deeply divided on the issue, is due to meet in December for its five-yearly national conference that will choose its next leader.

Given the ANC's political dominance, such a leader is guaranteed to become South Africa's next president in 2009.

REUTERS SYU ND1526