Chief justice Raymond Zondo, the country's top judge in its highest court, plans to apply for condonation from the high court for failing to meet last week’s June 15 deadline for the final section of the state capture inquiry report.
A condonation application is a legal mechanism to ask a court for permission, sanction or forgiveness, often after the fact. Zondo has not yet filed his application, begging the court’s indulgence for late filing.
His submission is nearing one week overdue.
Late on Monday, the commission’s spokesperson confirmed to Business Day that Zondo was intent on asking the high court’s indulgence after missing the deadline last Wednesday. “The chief justice intends to make the application,” inquiry secretary Itumeleng Mosala said.
On Monday morning President Cyril Ramaphosa and Zondo had an “urgent” phone call to discuss the submission of outstanding sections.
Zondo and Ramaphosa’s private talk about the remaining parts took place during a break in the Judicial Service Commission (JSC) interview of appeal court president and Ramaphosa’s pick for deputy chief justice, Mandisa Maya.
After adjourning for a 15-minute break at about 11am, Zondo returned to the interview venue shortly before 11.30am. He said he had been on an “urgent” call with Ramaphosa.
Ramaphosa’s spokesperson, Vincent Magwenya, later confirmed Zondo and the president “discussed the timing of the handing over” of the final report.
Mosala said unspecified “challenges in processing” and scheduling meant a ceremony for handing over a hard copy would occur on Wednesday, which is one week later than the court-ordered deadline handed down in April.
Mosala suggested the latest delay would result in a higher-quality final report with fewer errors. “The commission apologises to the public and all concerned for this further delay. The patience and support of the public is highly appreciated.”
His apology came days after assurances on Saturday that the digital copy would “surely” be filed by “sometime” on Sunday night, with a ceremonial handover at the Union Buildings on Monday.
But Zondo and his team failed to submit by then, despite several consecutive late nights rushing to complete their work.
Siding with Mosala’s argument, Corruption Watch executive director Karam Singh suggested the delay was in SA’s national interest.
“The commission had an unenviable task. The delays in release have not frustrated me. I suspect there is a lot of urgency, but they only have one shot, and this report is probably going to be taken on judicial review, so they have got to get it right,” Singh said.
Business Day understands the two largest volumes are likely to cover the Passenger Rail Agency of SA (Prasa) and the State Security Agency (SSA). Other volumes cover the Estina dairy scam in the Free State, the SABC, the 2013 landing of the Guptas’ private jet at Waterkloof air force base, and the bigger picture of state capture.
Two weeks before the June 15 deadline, former SSA head Arthur Fraser filed criminal charges against Ramaphosa. He gave police photographs, a video and details of the crime, in which a large sum of US dollars hidden in furniture on the president’s Phala Phala game farm in Limpopo was stolen.
Fraser accused Ramaphosa of covering up the 2020 burglary and theft of foreign currency, insisting the amount involved was prima facie evidence of money laundering. He accused Ramaphosa of ordering the unlawful apprehension of the suspects and recovery of the stolen money. Fraser claimed to police that Ramaphosa paid the burglars R150,000 hush money each. Ramaphosa has confirmed the burglary, but insists the amount stolen was far lower than Fraser alleged.
Update: 20 June 2022
This article has been updated with new information.
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