CHARLES MOLELE
FORMER President Jacob Zuma, through his lawyers, has called for Deputy Chief Justice Raymond Zondo to recuse himself as chairperson of the Commission of Inquiry into State Capture.
Zuma says the Deputy Chief Justice is biased towards him.
Zuma’s letter on Monday night comes after Zondo hosted a media briefing last week where he said that he “will not negotiate” dates for Zuma’s next appearance before the commission.
Zondo also set aside new dates for Zuma’s appearance for November 16 to 20.
According to the former president’s lawyers, Zuma believes that the chairperson’s conduct has stripped the commission of its much required and vaunted legitimacy.
“Viewed in the context of previous media statements, the conduct of the chairperson and treatment of President Zuma by the Commission, the chairperson’s utterances have left Zuma with the distinct impress that the chairperson seeks to target him for special treatment and public humiliation,” Zuma’s lawyers argue in the letter.
Zuma’s lawyers added that the former president believes the source of Zondo’s “bias” against him stems from fact that Zuma and Zondo “have historical personal, family and professional relations that ought to have been publicly disclosed”.
“President Zuma believes that the source of the chairperson’s bias against him stems from the fact that president and the chairperson have historical personal, family and professional relations that ought to have been publicly disclosed by the chairperson before accepting his appointment,” the lawyers said.
“The chairperson’s election to reserve media conferences for president attests to the fact that he seeks to portray him as uncooperative and belligerent in the eyes of the public. No witness has been subjected to such public rebuke through the media.”
The former president’s lawyers also confirmed that Zuma would file a detailed affidavit outlining his reasons for requesting Zondo’s recusal.
“The chairperson refused to believe that President Zuma’s failure to appear before the commission early this year was due to his travel to seek medical treatment, again publicly portraying him as a liar,” the lawyers said.
“The chairperson has joined the narrative that seeks to present President Zuma as the cause of all the corruption he is tasked to investigate.”
Zuma was expected to appear before the State Capture Inquiry earlier this month but failed to do so.
Zondo, however, laid down the law last week and set aside dates for Zuma to appear again before the State Capture Inquiry.
He said the dates of 16 to 20 November have been determined for Zuma’s appearance.
“This commission does not negotiate dates with witnesses. The commission fixes the dates and people who are supposed to appear. If they have good grounds for not appearing, then they make an application to show they have good grounds. We will not negotiate dates with witnesses,” Zondo said.
(COMPILED BY INSIDE POLITICS STAFF)
