Chief justice and inquiry chair Raymond Zondo has secured a six-week extension for the final state capture report. His case for more time was heard in the high court in Pretoria on Thursday.
Zondo’s bid, which he brought on an urgent basis last week, was unopposed by respondents, including President Cyril Ramaphosa, several political parties and the Council for the Advancement of the SA Constitution (Casac).
In brief heads of argument, finalised on Monday, Zondo said he believes an additional six weeks “should be” adequate and optimistically suggested “we might be able to be done by the end of May” — which looking at previous undertakings seems improbable.
He argued that a deadline of April 30 would lead to “unwanted consequences” and render all the efforts and resources spent “futile and against the public interest”.
So far, Zondo has produced three reports that are available to the public.
After Thursday’s ruling Itumeleng Mosala, the inquiry’s secretary, told Business Day an official handover of a hard copy of part four of the report will take place at the Union Buildings on Friday..
Following the court’s decision on Thursday, the fifth and final report’s deadline has now moved from April 30 to June 15.
Zondo told the court the fourth report’s eight volumes cover Eskom, the attempted capture of the National Treasury, EOH and the City of Johannesburg, Alexkor, the closure of Gupta-linked bank accounts, and the Free State asbestos audit and its housing scam.
He said the fourth bundle is “very substantial” and includes “detailed analysis of evidence and findings” running to more than 1,114 pages. The chair insisted that “any delay” is not due to neglect, asserting “a lot of important evidence” demanded analysis and inclusion.
Zondo told the court what topics remain on the commission’s “to do” list for the final report: the Estina dairy project; the SABC; the Passenger Rail Agency of SA (Prasa); the 2013 landing of a Gupta-owned jet at Waterkloof air force base; state security; a chapter on state capture at large; and an executive summary of the total report.
“There are drafts that have already been prepared on all the above topics except the summary,” Zondo said.
He said volumes on the SABC and Waterkloof landing are reasonably short. He explained a “document on parliamentary oversight” was excluded from part three “because it belongs at the end” of the submissions.
Despite mounting delays and the case heard this week, several nongovernment organisations (NGOs) and commentators, including parties to Thursday’s case, are sympathetic to Zondo and his team.
“No-one could have predicted the gigantic can of worms that the commission opened up. All that information has to be collated and integrated into a coherent story that is digestible,” said Stellenbosch University professor Mark Swilling.
This week DA leader John Steenhuisen told Business Day: “I’d rather wait and have better findings.”
Casac executive secretary Lawson Naidoo agreed: “Ultimately what we all want is a proper report. We’re between a rock and a hard place.”
Bantu Holomisa, head of the UDM, suggested new evidence could be the reason Zondo sought an extension. He most wants Zondo to ensure the proceeds of crime are recovered.
Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse (Outa) executive director Stefanie Fick said of the extension application, “I think it’s reasonable, but we need finality.”
Corruption Watch executive director Karam Singh said: “At this stage, I would prefer the drafters of the report to have the time required to do the report to the best of their ability.”
Political analyst Ralph Mathekga thought there is “no reason” to harbour any suspicions about the latest extension, considering the inquiry’s scope and Zondo’s demonstrable commitment over four years.
He said: “I’m of the view that he intends to go deeper and should be afforded the opportunity to do so.”
Mathekga pressed Ramaphosa to act on the contents of the first three reports. “I think the president will still have an opportunity to formulate a grand plan. For now he can get the ball rolling on what has thus far been released,” Mathekga said.
In his submissions to the high court, Zondo described four years of “gruelling” work on the commission, and insisted the team would to do their work properly until the very end.
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