DA says Zondo commission must subpoena Zuma to prevent him evading accountability

The Democratic Alliance (DA) has said that the commission of inquiry into state capture chaired by Deputy Chief Justice Raymond Zondo should use its subpoena powers “to prevent” former president Jacob Zuma from “evading accountability”.

This after the spokesperson of the inquiry, also known as the Zondo commission, announced last week that Zuma would not appear before it this week due to illness.

DA MP advocate Glynnis Breytenbach said: “While no one has the right to invalidate any person’s state of health, the reality is that Zuma has been successfully evading accountability for years. The DA, therefore, urges the Zondo commission to use its subpoena powers to ensure that Zuma appears before it to answer crucial questions about his role in the capture of the state.”

Breytenbach accused Zuma of applying a “Stalingrad strategy” at the commission “to avoid answering probing questions in all other matters that are being investigated, or that ought to be investigated, against him”.

“The Zondo commission was established in order to provide South Africans with answers. This commission’s findings could potentially result in the launch of dozens of prosecutions. Its work is too important to be held ransom by an errant former president who by all accounts should have been convicted and jailed for gross alleged financial crimes years ago.

“The DA calls on Deputy Chief Justice Raymond Zondo to use his commission’s subpoena powers to force Zuma to appear before it, so that accountability and justice will not be delayed.”

Meanwhile, Business Day reported that the former president has not given the commission proof of his illness.

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