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South Africa's scandal-plagued former president Jacob Zuma will face a corruption trial, a court ruled Friday, in one of multiple alleged graft cases over his long political career.
        The country's High Court unanimously dismissed Zuma's bid for a permanent stay of prosecution over 16 counts of fraud, racketeering and money laundering relating to a multi-billion-dollar arms deal dating back to before he took office in 2009. Zuma, who has been accused of taking bribes from French defence company Thales, sought in March to have the case dropped. He maintained the case was politically-motivated and years of delay would result in an unfair trial. But the trial is now scheduled to begin on Tuesday after High Court Judge Willie Seriti ruled that Zuma's "application for the permanent stay is dismissed with costs". The judge agreed with the prosecution that parts of Zuma's arguments to have the case thrown out were "scandalous and or vexatious". The National Prosecutions Authority's spokeswoman Natasha Kara told AFP "the matter has been set down for trial from the 15th to the 18th of October". Both Zuma and Thales have denied any wrongdoing, and the former president could still appeal the ruling, experts have suggested. But if it goes ahead, it would be the first time the former leader has stood trial on corruption charges, despite a serious of graft allegations.