Cape Town — Outgoing Chief Justice Raymond Zondo has outlined the challenges he encountered while handling Jacob Zuma’s conduct during the notorious State Capture Commission of Inquiry.
Zondo, who is set to retire after 27 years of service, explained in an interview with EWN how Zuma’s state capture had affected so many communities in South Africa and revealed that he treated the former president in the same way he would any other person.
He said that he was satisfied with the way he conducted the Commission, despite outside voices.
Zondo said the most challenging part of the process was when Zuma had walked out of the Commission and he had to decide what would happen next.
“As you might recall, he walked out on Thursday 19 November 2020, if I recall correctly and I announced that I would reflect on the developments and would announce the following week what would happen,” Zondo said.
He used the weekend to reflect and on the Monday he had announced what he would do. He was shocked that Zuma decided to defy the order of the Constitutional Court and he had another decision to make regarding that situation.
Contempt of court
“My approach was: ‘What will be done is what is normally done in the courts when somebody defies an order of court’. And when I announced that we would apply to the Constitutional Court for contempt of court, I emphasised that this is what gets done. So we were following what gets done,” he said.
In another interview with Newzroom Afrika, the chief justice discussed the naysayers of the outcome of the Commission and explained the significance of Zuma’s Abanye benuu bayokhala comments.
“There is a clip where he is addressing his supporters, I don’t know if it was when he appeared before the Commission or outside the Pietermaritzburg High Court. He is speaking in Zulu and English and one of the things he said is that some of them would regret when they were pushing to appoint this commission. He then says in Zulu ‘Abanye benu bayokhala’,” Zondo explained.
“When he was saying that, the context was that the commission, as he saw it, was also dealing with his enemies if you like,” he said.
Zondo said the commission examined every angle, and in 2018, he sent a note to the head of the Commission’s legal team, instructing them to follow the evidence wherever it led, regardless of who was implicated.
[WATCH] Outgoing Chief Justice Raymond Zondo explains the context in which former President Jacob Zuma uttered the words ‘Abanye benu bayokhala’, on the State Capture Commission. He says Zuma meant that the commission would also deal with his enemies. #Newzroom405 pic.twitter.com/J8WHeM0wM2
— Newzroom Afrika (@Newzroom405) August 25, 2024
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Compiled by Matthew Petersen
