Deputy chief justice Raymond Zondo has expressed disappointment that more past and present cabinet ministers have not come forward to submit affidavits or testify before the commission of inquiry into state capture.
Zondo expected more would do so but after about two and a half years he is not hopeful that they will come forward now, the judge said in a media update on Monday on the commission’s work.
“I do believe there must be many more (ministers past and present) who know things which fall within the terms of reference of what happened and who should have come forward and shared that with us,” he said.
The judge will apply to the high court for a further three-month extension for the commission, which was due to conclude its work at the end of March 2021. This follows a 10-month extension granted by the high court in Pretoria in February.
Zondo said the extension was required because the commission, which was established in August 2018 on the basis of a proclamation by former president Jacob Zuma, could not hold hearings during the initial three months of the Covid-19 lockdown. He was confident that it would be able to finish its work by the end of June if the extension is granted.
The additional three months would be used to write up his report on evidence submitted on the corruption that took place during the years of state capture and what should be done to prevent it in future, he said.
Special attention would be given to the protection of whistle-blowers who were crucial in the fight against corruption, he said. A focus would also be given to the role of parliament in exercising oversight. A week in February will be dedicated to this.
Zondo said that most of the evidence relating to state-owned enterprises — the SABC, Transnet, Eskom, Denel, SAA and SAA Technical — had been given and there were a few witnesses who still had to testify, particularly in regard to Eskom.
Work in relation to other work streams had largely been completed, though a hearing on Sars will be held during the next three months.
Still to give evidence before the commission is Zuma, who has avoided doing so, President Cyril Ramaphosa, who the judge said had given a commitment to appear, and the governing ANC party.
The commission wants to find out what Ramaphosa knew about state capture while he was deputy president. It has applied to the Constitutional Court to order Zuma to appear before it for 10 days in January and February. That ruling is awaited.
Zondo said it was important for Zuma to answer questions in relation to evidence about his alleged role in various matters and transactions, and because of his position as president during the period of state capture.
The judge did not believe that the non-appearance of the Gupta family would diminish the credibility of the commission’s report as there had been strong evidence on money flows and who benefited from irregular transactions with state-owned enterprises.
The extension of the commission’s term was not likely to increase its costs substantially as this time would be dedicated to writing the report and would not involve much in terms of investigations, he said. Zondo noted that so far the commission had cost about R800m, but he emphasised its importance in entrenching the perception that there will be consequences for malfeasance.
The judge said a large part of these costs was for lawyers and investigators. He pointed out that the commission had to deal with corruption across the entire state sector, including state-owned enterprises Eskom, Transnet, SAA and Denel each of which could have had their own commission of inquiry in the manner of the one into the Public Investment Corporation.
Zondo noted that because of the commission’s intervention McKinsey had agreed to repay Eskom R650m for fees paid to the consulting firm.
Since it got under way with hearings in August 2018, the commission has heard evidence from 278 witnesses. Transcripts of evidence amounted to 51,669 pages. Affidavits and exhibits amounted to 159,109 pages.
The commission has sat for 323 days to hear evidence and issued 2,330 notices alerting people that they had been implicated in evidence. A total of 2,736 summonses have been issued.
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