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Former President Jacob Zuma launched another salvo at the direction of Supreme Court Vice President Raymond Zondo, challenging his statement Monday that the two were never friends and accusing him of choosing his revelations.
In an affidavit submitted to the state’s capture inquiry commission on Wednesday, and as part of his request that Zondo recuse himself as president, Zuma insisted the two had shared a close relationship. And he claimed that Zondo’s affair with one of Zuma’s now-sisters-in-law in the 1990s, along with the son who had been born, had only made this relationship “even closer and more familiar in nature.”
A ruling on Zuma’s request for Zondo’s disqualification was expected Wednesday afternoon, but his affidavit threw a wrench into the works, leaving the fate of the request, and potentially that of the entire commission, up in the air for another day.
The commission issued a statement, saying Zondo needed more time to consider the affidavit. However, a ruling is now expected on Thursday.
Meanwhile, it is clear that Zuma is not backing down.
In his request for recusal, he described his relationship with Zondo as “relatively close” and “personal” – going so far as to say that they had been “friends” – and claimed that they had “constantly met on social occasions and [at] public meetings organized by the government “, as well as that Zondo had visited his home” on several occasions. “
He even said that after Zondo was appointed a judge, the two had discussed whether their relationship would jeopardize his career.
But in his statement Monday, which he read before the arguments in the application began, Zondo painted a very different picture of the situation.
He said he had never been to Zuma’s official residence and denied having discussed whether their relationship would jeopardize his career after being elevated to the bench, saying that Zuma at the time was not president, “and just a MEC,” for which could not have influenced his career in any case.
However, in the affidavit filed yesterday, Zuma did not move, highlighting a briefing that he said they held at his official residence in Durban after the vice president of the Supreme Court was appointed chairman of the inquiry commission.
He was also unwavering in his alleged discussion of the potential impact of their relationship on Zondo’s career as a judge, saying that this had taken place at his Forest Town home in Johannesburg, which Zondo has admitted to visiting, but only twice. .
“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,” Zuma said apparently annoyed.
“It is a common cause that at that time I was also National President of the ANC and Provincial President of the ANC in KwaZulu-Natal. In fact, they were positions of influence in the ruling party, the ANC. Consequently, his attempt to communicate that I was insignificant in the national political arena is false ”.
He accused Zondo of being “less than sincere” and said that he could not deny this discussion, adding that the vice president of the Supreme Court had been “selective” with which he decided to put on record and pointed to the fact that he had not mentioned family ties with the former president on Monday. This despite the fact that he did confirm it in a previous statement.
Zuma filed his request for disqualification last week after Zondo ordered that he be summoned to appear before him.
Zuma appeared last year for five days before withdrawing his cooperation. He eventually capitulated, but then failed to show up at subsequent scheduled appearances, and his lawyers blamed his poor health saying he was busy preparing for his upcoming criminal trial in Kwa-Zulu Natal.
He was present during Mondays and Tuesdays, but not during yesterday ((WE)), due to a death in the family.
It remains to be seen whether or not he will be present on Thursday.
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