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Former President Jacob Zuma and his lawyer, lawyer Muzi Sikhakhane in the state capture commission.
Sharon Seretlo, Gallo Images
- SA1st Forum says that Jacob Zuma’s “strike” at the Zondo commission is a “direct attack on our criminal justice system.”
- Zuma faces contempt charges for abandoning the investigation without asking permission to do so.
- The forum says Zuma’s attorneys face a “maximum penalty” for “irresponsible and unprofessional” conduct.
Former President Jacob Zuma’s defender, Muzi Sikhakhane, and his legal team are facing a professional misconduct complaint for the “irresponsible and unprofessional” way in which they represented Zuma during his strike in the commission of inquiry into the capture of the state.
“We wish your Council to determine whether Mr. JG Zuma’s legal team, led by attorney Muzi Sikhakhane, SC, was irresponsible and unprofessional in the way they advised and represented their client during his most recent appearance on the Investigation Commission of Zondo, “advocates Rod Solomons of the SA1st Forum, wrote to the Council on Legal Practice last week.
“The fact that Mr. Zuma and his legal team withdrew from the Zondo Commission proceedings, without the approval of its chairman, caused quite a stir and can be seen as a direct attack on our criminal justice system. Clearly, the Mr. Zuma could not have been involved in such an action without the advice of his legal team. “
According to Solomons, the LPC should consider imposing the “maximum penalty” on Zuma’s lawyers for their alleged misconduct.
Solomons filed the complaint after Zuma dropped the investigation on Nov. 19, after Supreme Court Vice President Raymond Zondo denied the former president’s request for disqualification. Zuma decided to abandon the investigation after test leader Paul Pretorius explicitly told him that he could not leave without being excused by Zondo.
FRIDAY REPORT | The clash of Zuma and Zondo: What’s at stake for South Africa?
Zondo later announced that he had instructed the research secretary, Professor Itumeleng Mosala, to press criminal charges against Zuma for this apparent act of contempt.
“His (Zuma’s) conduct may send a message to all other witnesses that they may not feel comfortable coming in and answering questions that it is the right thing to do for a witness summoned to excuse himself, for witnesses to come in and out as they please first. the Commission, “Zondo said.
However, Solomons maintains that “the conduct of the legal team is of utmost concern as, after all court officials, they should have been aware that a witness called to appear cannot simply leave without the express approval of the president. . “.
“If Zuma’s legal team is allowed to get away with such antics, other attorneys may begin to think that it is okay to act that way when they must appear before a judicial commission of inquiry or similar body. People will not have it. trust in and respect for our legal system.
“Mr. Zuma’s legal team, with him in tow or at the helm, treated the Commission and none other than the Vice President of the Supreme Court of the Republic of South Africa with the utmost disrespect for their antics of leaving the Commission of the way they did it, “he added.
READ HERE | Zuma v Zondo: former president says he would rather go to jail than be ‘intimidated’ by the commission
Sikhakhane has declined to comment on Solomons’ complaint with the Johannesburg Bar and the LPC.
Zuma’s legal team previously indicated that they will seek to review Zondo’s refusal to recuse himself in Superior Court and will also file a misconduct complaint about Zondo with the Judicial Service Commission. They argue that he presided over a matter in which he was personally involved, because he challenged Zuma’s claims that he and the former president had a “close personal relationship.”
Neither the case nor the complaint have yet been filed.
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