2nd February, 2021
South Africa’s former President Jacob Zuma said he would not appear before a commission probing state capture, despite a ruling by the Constitutional Court compelling him to do so.
“The state capture of inquiry can expect no further cooperation from me in any of their processes going forward,” Zuma said in a 6-page statement on Monday.
He said his constitutional rights were being violated after the Constitutional Court forced him to testify at the state capture commission.
“Recently the commission ran to the Constitutional Court on an urgent basis to get the Constitutional Court to compel me to attend at the commission and to compel me to give answers at the commission, effectively undermining a litany of my constitutional rights including the right to the presumption of innocence,” Zuma said.
Zuma further said he was always prepared to appear at the inquiry but not before the deputy Chief Justice Raymond Zondo whom he claimed was biased against him.
“The recent decision of the Constitutional Court also mimics the posture of the commission in that it has now also created a special and different set of circumstances specifically designed to deal with Zuma by suspending my Constitutional rights rendering me completely defenseless against the commission,” his statement read.
The commission, which was established to investigate allegations of state capture, corruption, fraud and other allegations in the public sector, has summoned Zuma to appear before it from February 15 to 19.