A letter sent to the Democratic Alliance by the State Attorney’s office confirms that South Africa’s former president, Jacob Zuma spent more than R15 million in legal fees.

On Tuesday, 13 March, the Democratic Alliance (DA) party shared a letter, in which a lawyer in the Office of the State Attorney, Leon Manuel, confirmed that “an amount of 15 300 250.00 (Fifteen Million, Three Hundred Thousand and Two Hundred and Fifty Rand) was incurred by the Presidency on legal costs pertaining to the National Prosecuting Authority’s decision to decline to prosecute former President Zuma on charges of fraud; corruption and racketeering.”

The letter, which is addressed to the DA’s lawyers in the case, Mindes Schapiro and Smith, does not provide a breakdown of the costs – it was prompted by an application made by the DA to the Western Cape High Court.

For its part, the DA feels vindicated, and claims that “this legal action was against Jacob Zuma in his personal capacity, for crimes he allegedly committed before he was President. He was not a respondent in that case in his capacity as President of the Republic of South Africa. As such, this amounts to R15.3 million of irregular spending by the government to keep Jacob Zuma out of jail.”

The party says legal processes “of retrieving every cent of this R15.3 million from Jacob Zuma,” are already underway, and it wants Zuma to be personally liable for paying back the money.