Zondo Commission: Time to be cleared or be implicated

It appears the Commission of Inquiry into State Capture, often criticised for being painstakingly slow, has had enough and has started to flex its muscles.

Earlier this month it drew a line in the sand when it came to former president Jacob Zuma and his scheduled appearance at the inquiry.

Legal games have been played for far too long.

Zuma has repeatedly asked for his day in court, and while this is no court, it’s time to respond to all the claims. It certainly got a reaction out of Zuma, who on Friday lashed out at the commission for probing his children’s bank accounts.

Zuma said by targeting his children it was a declaration of war. He insisted the commission should attack him and not his children.

The commission’s response was on point. They just didn’t respond, technically.

Their statement said: “The commission has nothing to say about the former president’s statement concerning the latter’s children’s bank accounts. Should there be something to say, the media will be informed.”

And yesterday, according to the Sunday Times, the commission have also targeted other big guns by issuing subpoenas to the country’s major banks to provide all of Economic Freedom Fighters’ leader Julius Malema’s financial records.

They are also looking into deputy Floyd Shivambu. It’s got to a time when anyone linked to corruption – whether correctly or not – must stand up and be counted. Either be cleared or be implicated.

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