South Africa: Jacob Zuma's corruption trial to resume on Monday

The long-awaited corruption trial against former South African President Jacob Zuma is expected to resume in Pietermaritzburg High Court on Monday. 

Zuma and his co-accused French arms manufacturer, Thales, face multiple charges of fraud, corruption and racketeering in connection with South Africa's multi-billion Rand arms deal of the 1990s.

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The state had alleged that Zuma is guilty of 16 charges, including, one count of racketeering, two corruption, one money laundering and 12 counts of fraud. 

From the start, the former President has maintained innocence and has reiterated this was nothing but a witch hunt by his political opponents. 

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After several postponements over the years, in 2018 the charges against Zuma and Thales were reinstated by the former head of the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) Shaun Abraham's.

It has been reported that the State has lined up over 200 witnesses expected to be heard until June 20. 

However, at this stage, it is still unclear about the former President's legal team as he recently parted ways with his former lawyers.

Some of the legal experts are of the view that the case against Zuma could be postponed if he failed to secure legal representation.