Johnathan Paoli
The JG Zuma Foundation said it plans to pursue its motion to review what it calls a questionable selection of Judge Raymond Zondo as Chief Justice, saying that available evidence indicated that Zondo received the lowest number of votes from the Judicial Service Commission.
Former President Jacob Zuma and the Zuma Foundation launched an application against President Cyril Ramaphosa in the North Gauteng High Court seeking relief to declare the conduct of the president in appointing Zondo as the Chief Justice to be unconstitutional and review and set aside his appointment.
Ramaphosa filed his notice to oppose the application last week, with the JSC filing a notice to abide by the decision of the court.
“The applicants and the public will surely look forward to what legal justification Mr Ramaphosa will give for his decision when he files his answering affidavit,” Zuma Foundation spokesperson Mzwanele Manyi said.
Manyi said that the JSC and the President will be forced to provide the record of the proceedings and deliberations pertaining to the JSCs recommendations and the President’s decision.
Manyi said that the President acted irrationally in ignoring the advice of the JSC and appointing Zondo despite being effectively declared as unsuitable for the position and the poor showing he made at the public interview.
Manyi said Ramaphosa must dispel the allegations or suspicions that Zondo was being rewarded for absolving the president for his role in the Bosasa/CR17 scandal in the State Capture Commission report.
In addition, Manyi said that the president must further explain why a woman candidate who had received the highest number of votes in the JSC selection process didn’t get the job, effectively a breach of the equality clause in terms of gender discrimination.
However, it must be noted that the Zondo Commission Report did not completely exonerate Ramaphosa in its findings. For example, Zondo criticised Ramaphosa’s repeated claim that he was in the dark about his campaign funding, and said it was his responsibility to ensure funds were solicited and used transparently.
The Zondo report also suggested that Ramaphosa and others were unwilling to damage the ANC by publicly going against it and that what the President knew at the time remained somewhat opaque.
Manyi said that the Foundation will keep the public updated on developments in this important matter involving accountability.
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