Ramaphosa’s ‘discussions’ with Zondo over State Capture report raises questions of interference

The delay behind the release of State Capture Commission’s final report has raised eyebrows for some following discussions between President Cyril Ramaphosa and Chief Justice Raymond Zondo. 

The commission announced this afternoon that the State Capture final report will be handed to Ramaphosa on Wednesday.

The report was initially due to be officially handed over to the president at 6pm on Monday.

However, Presidency spokesperson Vincent Magwenya said the delay was agreed upon between Ramaphosa and Zondo after discussions on the “timing”.

‘Interfering’

Democratic Alliance (DA) leader John Steenhuisen has since called on the pair to come clean over the meeting, saying the discussions was “wrong” and “deeply unethical”.

“This constitutes a dangerous and unacceptable interference in the judicial process which casts a long shadow over both the independence of South Africa’s judiciary, and the credibility of the Presidency.

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“At a time when trust in the Presidency is at an all-time low, any suggestion that the president may be interfering with the independent work of the commission or manipulating the timing of the report’s release is rightfully met with suspicion,” he said in a statement.

“It is unheard of for any individual, who is the subject of an investigation being conducted by the state’s law enforcement and judiciary, to be able to manipulate the content of an investigative report or the timing of its release,” the DA leader added.

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Steenhuisen said it was astounding that Ramaphosa saw “nothing wrong in attending this meeting”.

“The delay of the court-mandated deadline for the release of the final Zondo report, seemingly at the hand of the president, should set alarm bells ringing.

“The president of the republic has no right to delay or obstruct justice, and one can only assume that Ramaphosa is seeking to delay the release of the final report for two reasons.

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“It directly implicates him in state capture and because the timing of the release is inconvenient given the current controversy surrounding the theft of  $4 million from his Phala Phala farm in 2020,” he further said.

“I call on President Ramaphosa and judge Zondo to take the country into their confidence and issue statements explaining the nature of their meeting, who initiated it and why it was permitted to go ahead, given the evident conflict this presents with the principles of independence and justice,” Steenhuisen concluded.

Seven volumes

The commission was given a deadline of 15 June to complete its work and submit the fifth volume of the state capture report to the president.

The commission had previously been granted an extension until 30 April.

According to the commission’s secretary, Itumeleng Mosala, the final report will be more than 1,800 pages and will be divided into seven volumes.

“The commission would like to inform the public that due to challenges in processing part [four] and [five] of the report on time for the handover to the president by 6pm [Monday], it has been agreed to move the event to Wednesday, the original handover date in Cape Town.

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“The Presidency will announce the exact time for a Wednesday handover,” Mosala said in a statement.

“The final volumes of the part [four] and [five] of the report are about 1,824 pages long. The volumes themselves are seven in total.

“In the interest of quality and reduction of unavoidable errors and as a result of calendar logistical problems, it has become necessary to allow for a responsible and proper completion of the conclusion of the report,” the statement further reads.

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Additional reporting by Faizel Patel