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8 months ago
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Former president Jacob Zuma.
Gallo Images/Sowetan/Thulani Mbele
President Thabo Mbeki's administration claimed using taxpayers' money to pay Jacob Zuma's corruption trial costs was "in the public interest" – paving the way for over R28 million in spending that included a Mauritian "beauty parlour" visit for Zuma's lawyer.
Court documents have revealed that this legal spending, later described as "luxurious" by a full Bench of judges, was preceded by Zuma signing an agreement to refund the State for his corruption trial defence costs, if a court found he'd acted in his "own interests" in relation to those charges.
"I hereby undertake on demand to refund to the State Attorney all costs incurred by the State Attorney in connection with my defence should the court find that I acted in my personal capacity and own interests in the commission of alleged offences," Zuma stated in that 22 August 2006 agreement.
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