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Raymond Zondo, chairman of the state capture commission. (Felix Dlangamandla)
- Zondo’s commission of inquiry wants former President Jacob Zuma to be compelled to appear before it and answer questions in January and February.
- The ConCourt suggests that the inquiry commission is responsible for creating the urgency with which it has now presented its case, by failing to subpoena Zuma much earlier.
- The commission of inquiry is due to complete its work by March 31, 2021, but will request a three-month extension.
The state arrest commission of inquiry has faced some tough questions from the Constitutional Court about its efforts to get former President Jacob Zuma to testify and why it failed to summon him to appear much earlier than it did.
The country’s highest court has been asked to issue a series of orders against the former head of state, whom the commission of inquiry has accused of repeatedly not being accountable for accusations of illicit and corrupt conduct made against him.
But Judges Mbuyiseli Madlanga and Chris Jafta repeatedly questioned lawyer Tembeka Ngcukaitobi, who represents the commission of inquiry in its urgent attempt to force Zuma to answer their questions, about why the commission decided to subpoena the former president only after hearing an “accusatory” application.
“The need to issue a subpoena was seen in December 2019 … can you explain the need for a substantive request? I am totally confused as to why it is necessary,” Madlanga said, before describing that lengthy subpoena request, it was the only one of its kind to be heard in the history of the inquiry commission – as a “total waste of time.”
The commission of inquiry is seeking a series of orders to compel Zuma to appear before Supreme Court Vice President Raymond Zondo and answer questions in January and February 2021.
Madlanga has repeatedly suggested that the investigation was responsible for creating the urgency with which he has now presented that case.
“Once a point was reached where it is now necessary to issue a subpoena, and this goes back to December 2019, so once that point is reached why not just issue a subpoena to appear in January? 2020? ” I ask.
Ngcukaitobi responded that the subpoena request had followed Zuma’s repeated claims that he wanted to cooperate with the commission, as well as his failure to appear because he was receiving medical treatment.
READ HERE | Zondo: the state capture commission will ask the Superior Court for another extension
As such, he said, Zondo wanted to hear Zuma’s “side of the story” before issuing the subpoena for him to appear.
Ngcukaitobi argued that Zondo “did everything he could” to please Zuma, who has only testified once: in July 2019. In response, he said, Zuma had treated Zondo with “belligerence, defiance and contempt,” culminating in your decision to retire. of the commission of inquiry in November.
Ngcukaitobi added that Zuma had extended the contempt he had shown towards Zondo and his commission by refusing to participate in the Constitutional Court investigation case to compel him to appear. As a result, Zuma had not explained why he had withdrawn from the commission of inquiry or why he had repeatedly failed to deliver on his promises to provide the commission with the evidence requested.
“You can see what the goal is,” Ngcukaitobi said.
“The objective is to run out of time until the commission’s mandate ends. If time runs out successfully, in March of next year the life of the commission will be over, Mr. Zuma will have avoided accounting for his alleged criminal conduct while was in office. “
READ | Zuma says the state capture investigation is a ‘political project’ against him
The commission of inquiry also insists that Zuma does not have the right to remain silent if he is forced to appear before the commission, because he is not an accused person and can only exercise a limited privilege against self-incrimination.
The hearing continues.
