[ad_1]
By Baldwin Ndaba 
1 hour ago
Johannesburg – A war of words looms between former President Jacob Zuma and Supreme Court Vice President Raymond Zondo on Thursday after Zuma submitted an affidavit to the commission of inquiry into the state’s capture that he had influenced the appointment of the Judge Zondo as a judge in 1997.
This is contained in an affidavit filed by Zuma challenging a statement Judge Zondo made on Monday in which he said the two were not friends and that Zuma had played no role in his appointment.
In his affidavit, Zuma said that he was the national president of the ANC in 1997, which entitled him, during Nelson Mandela’s presidency, to be part of the government’s discussions on the appointment of black people to the position.
He was reacting to Judge Zondo’s statement, read during the commission session on Monday, in which the judge rejected claims about Zuma’s involvement in his appointment.
Despite Zondo’s denial of friendship and influence, Zuma’s affidavit painted a different picture.
In his affidavit, he said that “during President Mandela’s administration, the African National Congress was consulted on a wide range of issues related to judicial appointments.”
Zuma said that while the judiciary needed to be transformed, there was a shortage of black legal professionals who could rise to the bench.
“I understand that by referring to me as ‘just a MEC,’ the president is trying to downplay my role to show that he couldn’t have trusted me for his ancestry.
“It is common cause that at that time I was also the national president of the ANC and the provincial president of the ANC in KwaZulu-Natal.
“In fact, they were positions of influence within the ruling party, the ANC. Therefore, their attempt to communicate that I was insignificant in the national political arena is false, ”he said.
Zuma also questioned Judge Zondo’s statement that he has never been to his official residence during his presidency.
The former president said that after Judge Zondo was selected by Chief Justice Mogoeng Mogoeng to chair the commission of inquiry into the state capture, the two met at his official residence in Durban.
In his answering affidavit, Zuma insisted the two were friends, saying that when Zondo visited him at his Forest Town home, he warned him about the consequences of their friendship. “We talked, among other things, about how our friendship, if not managed properly, could jeopardize his judicial ambitions or rise through the ranks of the judiciary.”
Zuma’s affidavit of response was filed a few hours before Judge Zondo delivered his sentence on Zuma’s request to recuse himself on the grounds that the judge had treated some of the witnesses who testified against him with goat gloves. .
Due to Zuma’s presentations on Wednesday, the commission’s secretary, Professor Itumeleng Mosala, issued a statement informing the public that the sentence would be pronounced on Thursday.
Political Bureau
[ad_2]
