Spy v spy

摘要

Helen zille, leader of South Africa's opposition Democratic Alliance (da), emerged from a Pretoria court on September 4th claiming victory. In her hands were audio recordings (pictured) that should shed light on the government's decision in 2009 to drop corruption charges against Jacob Zuma-a decision that cleared the way for his election as president weeks later. At the time prosecutors explained their conduct by claiming that the recordings of conversations between the then heads of the National Prosecuting Authority and a special investigative unit suggested that the two had abused the legal process in order to thwart Mr Zuma's presidential hopes. Having listened to the tapes, however, the da says they support its call for a judicial review of the murky decision to drop more than 700 counts of corruption, money-laundering, fraud and racketeering against Mr Zuma. Yet, as important as their bearing on Mr Zuma, is what the recordings say about the politicisation of South Africa's intelligence agencies.