South Africa's Jacob Zuma said today a corruption case against him was "political and manipulative" and he had been vindicated after a judge formally dropped charges.
"There never was a case against me," Mr Zuma, who is expected to become president after an election this month, told a news conference in Durban.
"I have been vindicated." Mr Zuma's ANC party is widely expected to win the April 22nd election and choose him as president of Africa's biggest economic power.
A judge at a Durban High Court formally endorsed a decision by prosecutors to drop the case against Mr Zuma after discovering that senior officials had manipulated the legal process.
The decision gives Mr Zuma a big boost ahead of the election and ends a legal battle that raised doubts over his ability to govern, but analysts and the opposition say charges were dropped on a technicality so suspicion will continue to dog him.
Mr Zuma, dressed in a pin-stripe suit and joking with reporters, reiterated he had been a victim of a political conspiracy but said he would not "take revenge".
He said in his first comments since the charges were dropped that the idea a "cloud" remained over him was a media fiction.
"There is no cloud. There has never been a cloud," he said.
The National Prosecuting Authority said yesterday it had no choice but to scrap the 8-year-old allegations against Mr Zuma after it uncovered "abuses" of the legal process by allies of former president Thabo Mbeki, Mr Zuma's arch foe.
The opposition Democratic Alliance party said the NPA had been "hopelessly compromised" and filed an application with a high court today for a judicial review into the decision, a DA statement said.
"(The NPA) has become a political tool in the hands of the Jacob Zuma faction of the ANC," DA leader Helen Zille told SAfm radio. "The constitution and the rule of law is at stake here." NPA spokesman Tlali Tlali said a review was not necessary.
Mr Zuma, who has denied wrongdoing, had faced charges of corruption, fraud, money laundering and racketeering.
The case has been closely followed by investors looking for political stability in Africa's biggest economy and has raised concerns about the independence of South Africa's judiciary.
The ANC said yesterday the decision to drop charges proved Mr Zuma had been the victim of a political conspiracy.
Ms Zille's DA party along with the new Congress of the People (COPE) party formed by ANC defectors are hoping to attract voters uneasy with the ruling party's record on corruption.
Reuters