Former president Jacob Zuma could find himself being charged with contempt for defying deputy chief justice Raymond Zondo after leaving the commission without asking to be excused on Thursday, having failed in his bid to get the chair to recuse himself.
Zondo dismissed Zuma’s application for Zondo to recuse himself from hearing evidence given by the former president or any of his family members.
Having spent more than a year attempting to dodge the commission, Zuma walked out, despite a summons to appear and answer questions.
The Council for the Advancement of the SA Constitution’s Lawson Naidoo said the deputy chief justice could now lay a charge of contempt against Zuma, which could see him get a fine and/or a prison sentence of up to six months.
Lobby group Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse, which earlier in 2020 succeeded in having Zuma ally Dudu Myeni declared a delinquent director, called on Zondo to act “decisively, so as to ensure no precedent is set for others”.
After the delivery of the decision on the recusal application, the deputy chief justice said he was told that Zuma had left the commission without permission, which he said was a “serious matter”.
Zondo said the plan was that if he dismissed the recusal application, which he did, Zuma was going to be asked to take the witness box and be questioned about matters relating to the commission investigation.
Zuma, who is also facing a criminal trial linked to the notorious arms deal of the 1990s, has been accused of using Stalingrad tactics to avoid having to answer questions at the commission.
In a move that had the potential to collapse the commission, which was set up to probe corruption allegations during his presidency, including allowing the Gupta family, friends of Zuma and his son’s business partners, to choose ministers, Zuma applied for Zondo to recuse himself, citing personal relationships with the deputy chief justice and alleging bias against him.
Zuma’s lawyer, advocate Muzi Sikhakhane, told Zondo on Thursday that he had been instructed to take the recusal decision on review and that the former president would not answer any of the commission’s questions.
His attorney, Eric Mabuza, said his client did not walk out. “We informed politely on record that we were excusing ourselves,” he said.
Testimony
The commission has already heard evidence from more than 250 witnesses, which included former ministers such as Pravin Gordhan, Trevor Manuel and Barbara Hogan, who all implicated Zuma.
Naidoo said a review application would not affect the work of the commission.
“A review application will have an impact in terms of Zuma’s participation in the commission but has no impact on the rest of the work of the commission,” he said.
“So, from Monday they can continue to hear testimony from other witnesses.”
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