ANC President Jacob Zuma has made peace with the taxman - and wants all tax evasion charges against him scrapped.

In an 80-page affidavit filed at the Pietermaritzburg High Court, Zuma slammed the state yesterday for pursuing new charges of tax evasion against him - although he has settled the South African Revenue Service's claim against him "in full".

He further alleged that SARS had not laid any charges against him and accused the NPA of being "on an improper frolic of its own".

Zuma made his allegations as part of his legal team's application to review Acting NPA head Mokotedi Mpshe's "unconstitutional" decision in December last year to recharge him for fraud and corruption, without allowing him to "make representations" on the alleged crimes

In an attempt to undermine the state's recently added tax evasion charges against him, Zuma revealed that his much-publicised tax dispute with SARS had been "resolved with a large amount being paid to settle the amount of SARS's assessment".

According to Zuma: "The truth of the matter is that my legal representatives, and particularly my attorney, Michael Hulley, have for some years now had discussions and negotiations to regularise my income tax affairs vis-à-vis SARS.

"I have been advised by my legal representatives to do so for it is the right thing to do for a person in my position and political role.

"I have been advised that, even if I consider certain monies not to be income in my hands, to accept a globular assessment in this regard so as to ensure that my political enemies would not have any reason to make political capital out of my income tax affairs. I have accepted this advice.

"Needless to say, the prosecution's case against me was a considerable complicating factor in the negotiations which followed," he said.

Zuma further suggested that, should the state be allowed to pursue tax evasion charges against him, "the function of SARS to recover monies from tax-payers could otherwise be severely interfered with".

"It was wholly improper and unlawful of the NPA to institute such prosecutions under the Income Tax Act, without the go ahead from SARS.

"I have thus been advised that it is self-evident that SARS is the entity which is to determine whether a taxpayer is to be prosecuted and the extent to which the individual is to be prosecuted under the provisions of the Income Tax Act," he said.

In his latest application, Zuma also revealed that he was so worried that he would be "cloaked in the guise of an accused" before the ANC elections that he implored prosecutors for the chance to explain the corruption allegations against him *1.

But, according to Zuma, the NPA "enigmatically" refused to give him the opportunity to do so - prompting his latest legal wrangle with the state.

Zuma also claimed that he wanted to avoid once again raising the alleged "political stratagems" behind his prosecution. *2

Instead, he said, he wanted to be "treated no worse than other members of our society".

"I am not by reason of political prejudices to be treated worse than any other litigant *3 in the criminal context simply because I am a political figure. I respectfully, but specifically, make this point because I verily believe that I have in the past on occasion been subjected to such 'special' treatment to my detriment," he said.

With acknowledgements to Karyn Maughan and Cape Times.