Former president Jacob Zuma has filed yet another court bid to oust acting chief justice Raymond Zondo as head of the state capture commission.
His application was lodged shortly before the commission released part one of its report to President Cyril Ramaphosa. The report made damning findings against Zuma regarding his links to the Gupta family and state capture.
It also comes ahead of next month’s interviews by the Judicial Service Commission (JSC), which will determine who will be the next chief justice of SA. Zondo is a contender.
Zuma’s bid piggybacks on a previous application he made in the high court in Pretoria, in which he sought a court order for Zondo’s recusal on grounds of being biased and having a close personal relationship with the former president, and therefore unable to adjudicate on issues involving him and his family.
Now Zuma has applied to amend his application. He says Zondo’s appointment was unconstitutional and any ruling, directive decision by him must be declared unconstitutional and unlawful. He seeks an order that Ramaphosa appoints a new chair.
Zuma says Zondo was biased in making applications to the Constitutional Court for orders that he must appear before the commission and, later, for contempt of court.
I believe the chairperson [Zondo] targeted me and it came to me as no surprise that he was bold enough to disregard the fundamental rights of his judicial office ... what he did after I failed to appear before his commission amounts to an abuse of judicial power.
— Former president Jacob Zuma
The contempt application led to the Constitutional Court finding him guilty and sentencing him to 15 months in prison. He was controversially released two months later on medical parole. A high court has ruled that this was unlawful and he should return to jail. Zuma is appealing.
In his affidavit attached to his amended notice of motion, Zuma says while previously he had just sought Zondo’s recusal, he now wants to challenge the legality of his appointment. This was because of his conduct towards him in launching two Constitutional Court applications, “in violation of my rights”.
He says Zondo, having publicly announced he had committed a criminal offence (by not appearing before the commission), was not entitled to approach the apex court, the final court of appeal, but should have approached a high court, given that it was a criminal matter.
“In doing so [going to the Constitutional Court], he was clearly pursuing an ulterior and improper motive in the safe knowledge that the Constitutional Court, of which he is the leader, was likely to unfairly side with him. This turned out to be correct,” the affidavit reads.
Zuma says he does not wish to be understood to be against any investigation of corruption, including that which implicates him.
“I am against that being done for political expediency by one of the highest judicial officers on the terms of an unlawful appointment. It appears that he accepted the political narrative powered by a faction in my political party, the ANC, that he endorsed readily as legitimate evidence that I promoted state capture and corruption.
“I believe the chairperson [Zondo] targeted me and it came to me as no surprise that he was bold enough to disregard the fundamental rights of his judicial office ... what he did after I failed to appear before his commission amounts to an abuse of judicial power.”
Zuma says after the Constitutional Court granted the orders, Zondo “appeared on TV gloating”. It is in the interests of justice that the “original sin” which led to his “illegal imprisonment” — the refusal by Zondo to recuse himself — needs to be addressed.
“It cannot be swept under the carpet merely because the intended prize of my humiliation has been achieved.”
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