Sunday Times E-Edition

Zuma goes for broke

Ramaphosa praises Zondo’s work, saying SA is ready to move on beyond state capture

By AMANDA KHOZA and ANDISIWE MAKINANA

● Former president Jacob Zuma is threatening to throw the book at the commission on state capture, saying he will take the report on judicial review and report chief justice Raymond Zondo to the Judicial Service Commission (JSC) for misconduct.

The threats, made yesterday by the spokesperson for his foundation Mzwanele Manyi, follow the release of Zondo’s final report this week. It found Zuma was at the centre of a vast conspiracy to capture the state for the benefit of the Gupta brothers and of ministers and officials who stood to benefit.

While Manyi struck a defiant tone consistent with Zuma’s refusal to acknowledge the commission’s work and its findings, President Cyril Ramaphosa reflected on the work of the Zondo commission and pronounced SA ready to move on beyond the era of state capture.

“As much as the state capture years were a low point in the history of our democracy, the state capture commission has been a vital part of our collective quest to return our country to the path of integrity, transformation and progress,’’ Ramaphosa said. (Read his full statement on Page 19).

Manyi said, however, Zuma had instructed his legal team, led by advocate Dali Mpofu, to take Zondo’s report on review.

“The parts that are being taken on review are the parts that refer to him but … he is saying that these are fruits of a poisoned tree, he is saying the whole thing is rotten, unlawful, and the whole thing was wrong from the start. It violated the constitution,” said Manyi.

Zuma, who was billed to be present at the briefing, addressed by Manyi, was a no-show after being advised by Mpofu that his attendance may cause a “hullabaloo” and could breach one of the conditions of his medical parole.

The threats to challenge the report are last-ditch attempts by Zuma to try to absolve himself from the crimes allegedly committed by the Guptas. The National Prosecuting Authority is in the process of trying to extradite Rajesh and Atul Gupta, who have been arrested in Dubai.

Zondo’s report implicated Zuma in the way the Guptas had run amok, including their use of Waterkloof air base to fly in wedding guests in 2013. Zuma’s hand was also visible in the establishment and operation of the Gupta media house TNA Media and news channel ANN7, leading the chief justice to conclude Zuma had breached the executive ethics code.

“The question that arises is this: how credible is Mr Zuma’s version that, before the landing of the Gupta aircraft at Waterkloof, he did not know about it and he had never discussed the issue with the Guptas?” wrote Zondo.

However, Zuma, through Manyi, labelled Zondo’s report “unlawful, full of gossip, innuendo and conjecture. It is very short on concrete evidence”. Manyi said Zuma had instructed his lawyers to report Zondo to the JSC for his conduct and utterances.

The briefing had been billed as Zuma’s response to the recommendations and observations in the report, but it amounted to little more than a personal attack on Zondo.

“To say chief justice Zondo is unworthy of being called a judge would be a serious understatement. Chief justice Zondo fails the most basic of the tests even for the most junior judge. No self-respecting judge worthy of that title sits in a case where he/she is directly affected and demonstrably conflicted in order to settle personal scores,” said Manyi.

Zuma not only argued the report was unlawful, he also tried to distance himself from his own appointment of Zondo as commission chair, saying his hand had been forced.

“At the time president Zuma was not given a choice. Advocate [Thuli] Madonsela did not give anybody any choice, she said in her report that president Zuma must not be the one selecting the judge, even the judge that must give him the name, must give him one name,” Manyi said.

“So president Zuma, I tell you now, his hand was forced into this thing. He was forced, he did not sign voluntarily. He knew that this is breaking the law. He knew that the constitution of the country does not allow this.

“He tried to raise this and everybody was up in arms.”

When quizzed about Zondo’s findings on the ANC “benefiting” from state capture, Manyi said: “Zuma definitely does not have any regrets, president Zuma is a man of the law… he is passionate about wrongness and is a person that does not deal with individuals, he deals with issues. If a member is wrong, he is wrong. He is a very principled man.”

Manyi said there was nothing corrupt about Zuma, saying, “hamba uyosiza labafana bakwaGupta (go and help the Gupta’s boy).”

“Politicians continue to tell their DGs [directors-general] to help people because they are the face of the public.”

Manyi rejected the adverse findings against Zuma in the report about Eskom, SAA, Airports Company SA, the ANC and interference in the banks. “Those details will be dealt with by the review team,” said Manyi.

He also rejected Zondo’s findings that Zuma did everything he was told by the Guptas. “It’s just absolute hogwash.”

Manyi accused Zondo of being biased. “You can see here the amount of hatred that justice Zondo has for president Jacob Zuma, you can see that president Zuma was actually justified [to walk out of the commission].”

Zuma was not the only ANC leader tarnished by Zondo’s findings.

The report was also scathing about the role Ramaphosa played. Zondo said Ramaphosa should have blown the whistle on state capture as he had nothing to lose.

“The option he [Ramaphosa] chose did not prevent state capture from continuing. There are good chances in my view, that, if he was removed, that would have shaken those who were pursuing state capture,” the chief justice said.

Writing for the Sunday Times opinion pages today, Ramaphosa is full of praise for Zondo, but does not respond to the findings against him.

Ramaphosa focuses on the recommendations about state-owned companies (SOEs) and the abuse of the State Security Agency. He says his government has already taken steps to fix the damage caused by state capture.

“The commission’s various reports outline in detail how the resources of SOEs were abused to serve personal interests. This administration has been undertaking a fundamental overhaul of the SOE model that addresses not only the deficiencies that permitted widespread corruption, but that also enables these companies to effectively fulfil their social and economic mandates in a sustainable manner.”

He says the government has put measures in place to ensure that state capture is not repeated in future.

“We are changing the way SOEs are managed and overseen and making policy changes to address shortcomings and reinforce oversight.

“This includes implementing standard guidelines on the appointment and remuneration of SOE boards and executives that prioritise the recruitment and retention of appropriate skills, experience, and competencies. Processes are also being put in place with regards to delineation of authority and responsibility between elected public officials, nonexecutive directors and executive leadership.”

It seems Ramaphosa was referring to the draft Shareholder Bill on SOEs that is being drafted by the department of public enterprises. Among other things, the bill proposes the creation of a holding company that would run strategic SOEs.

But in his report Zondo said there was no proof this would insulate SOEs from future state capture. “It is simply said, without explanation, that the establishment of a [holding company] can insulate SOEs from unwarranted political interference.”

He said that the department’s proposals meant the nomination and selection of candidates remained firmly controlled by the relevant government minister.

“It is difficult to see why the proposed system will be any better placed to deal with state capture than it was before. There are no effective mechanisms which would prevent cronyism and cadre deployment from continuing to dominate appointment to the boards and to senior executive officers.”

Zondo recommended that an independent committee chaired by a retired judge nominated by himself, or by future chief justices, appoint boards and executive directors of SOEs.

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2022-06-26T07:00:00.0000000Z

2022-06-26T07:00:00.0000000Z

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