The KwaZulu-Natal High Court in Pietermaritzburg has ruled in favour of senior State advocate Billy Downer and News24 specialist legal journalist Karyn Maughan in their enforcement application, halting actions relating to former president Jacob Zuma's private prosecution.

It effectively means that the court has ruled in favour of the enforcement order, preventing Zuma from further pursuing private prosecution against Maughan and Downer while he appeals the ruling that invalidated his private prosecution.

Maughan and Downer are scheduled to appear for their private prosecution summons on Friday.

Zuma's lawyer Dali Mpofu has previously indicated that he would exercise his right to automatically appeal the enforcement order, if it was granted.

Maughan's lawyer previously said that, if the private prosecution summons was actioned, it would leave the courts previous ruling to set it aside as "empty and vacuous".

Zuma was outside the country, allegedly for medical treatment in Russia, but his foundation has since stated that he has returned to South Africa.

Facts in judgment and Stalingrad strategy

Addressing the issue of Zuma's Stalingrad strategy, the judges said the former president had never disavowed this defence, "despite being afforded several opportunities to do so".

They said that Zuma's private prosecution had served as a precursor to an application for the recusal of Downer as prosecutor in the main trial.

"This, in our view, clearly evidences the Stalingrad strategy. We also note that [Maughan and Downer] are not challenging the constitutionality of the private prosecution, but are merely exercising their common law rights not to be subjected to an unlawful prosecution which is an abuse of power."

The judges also stated that Zuma did not address the assertions of irreparable harm from Downer, but instead raised "irrelevant considerations that Downer is biased and unable to conduct a fair trial".

They noted that Maughan had raised issues of the infringement on her rights to freedom of movement, her personal liberty, and suffering social media abuse due to the private prosecution.

"This abuse has not been denied by [Zuma]," the judges said. 

The judges added that there was no harm to Zuma in granting the enforcement order, saying that if he won his appeal against the private prosecution being set aside, he could just reinstitute charges.