Zuma’s latest legal move is ‘political foreplay’, says expert

Former president Jacob Zuma’s newly announced bid to have Deputy Chief Justice Raymond Zondo step down as the State Capture Commission Chair could be a harbinger of a wider-scale attack on the commission’s foundations.

Advocate Paul Hoffman, who also heads up Accountability Now, yesterday described Zuma’s latest legal move as “political foreplay”.

He described the recusal application Zuma indicated he would be launching as a “time-buying exercise”.

Zuma’s lawyers on Monday wrote to Zondo on the beleaguered former president’s behalf and called for the commission chair to recuse himself on grounds including “historical personal, family and professional relations that ought to have been publicly disclosed by the chairperson before accepting his appointment”.

They said they were in the process of drafting an application and that Zuma would “take no further part” in the commission until that application had been finalised.

Zondo last week announced he would be considering an application to compel Zuma to appear before the commission.

During last week’s announcement, Zondo also fixed new dates in November for Zuma to take the stand. “We do not negotiate with witnesses,” he said at the time.

In their letter, Zuma’s lawyers said this “special focus and targeting” of Zuma had been “the hallmark” of the commission’s approach.

They said Zuma had reached the conclusion “that the chairperson is no longer capable of exercising an independent and impartial mind” and that this had been “fortified by what he views as the unwarranted public statements by the chairperson at the said media briefing”.

Hoffman said yesterday Zuma’s application looked unlikely to succeed.

“This is not a judge in a court case. This is a commissioner in a commission of inquiry. And Zuma is not an accused, so his rights to a fair trial are not at play. He’s just a witness,” he said.

But in their letter, Zuma’s lawyers “reiterated” that Zuma had “questioned the lawfulness of the establishment of this commission”.

Hoffman said Zuma could be posturing to challenge the commission itself. Ordinarily, it is for a president to establish a commission and appoint a chair.

“But when then public protector Thuli Madonsela penned her State of Capture report, she instructed Zuma – then the president – to establish a commission and found the chief justice should appoint a judge to head it up because Zuma, himself, had been implicated.

Hoffman said yesterday the commission was, as a result, vulnerable to attack.

Constitutional law expert Professor Pierre de Vos yesterday said that, on the face of it at least, Zuma’s recusal application did not look to be well-founded.

“The information given so far is not enough to justify a recusal but we don’t know what the personal relationships are, so it depends on that,” he said.

De Vos said, like in a court of law, that Zondo was himself required to preside over the application for his recusal. He said, however, that he was also required not to recuse himself unless absolutely necessary.

– bernadettew@citizen.co.za

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