Zuma’s spokesman, Bongani Ngqulunga, and ANC secretary general Gwede Mantashe, say former Public Protector Thuli Madonsela overstepped the mark in directing the Chief Justice to appoint the judge overseeing a commission interrogating her Gupta-capture report. “Unconstitutional!” they cry – “That’s always been, and legally is, Zuma’s job”. Do they truly think natural justice will be served when a man who has appointed his acolytes to virtually every influential position in government, (judicial independence notwithstanding), selects the person who will, to a large degree, determine his fate? I say ‘to a large degree,’ because today is the deadline for Zuma to file supplementary papers in his appeal against the High Court ruling that the decision not to prosecute him for over 700 fraud charges was “irrational”. That court will begin adjudicating that in two months’ time. So, 2017 could be South Africa’s watershed leadership year as the advancing impis complete an ‘Mphondo” (horns) attack on Zuma and his wayward warriors, surrounding them on all sides, armed with multiple scandals. Both ANC spokespeople confirm that Zuma will take the issue of who appoints the chief of a commission of enquiry on judicial review – while reiterating the ‘necessity’ for such a probe. That review will be riveting from a legal and ethical perspective. Should the subject of an enquiry choose who probes his errant behaviour? Or is the judiciary so far above influence that whoever is appointed doesn’t matter? It’s sticky territory, especially with the ongoing transformation of the jury being such a political hot potato, with at least one controversial Western Cape Judge having historically nailed his political colours to the mast. – Chris Bateman
by Sam Mkokeli and Amogelang Mbatha
(Bloomberg) — South African President Jacob Zuma will probably mount a legal challenge to a report by the graft ombudsman that calls for the establishment of a judicial inquiry into allegations that the Gupta family influenced cabinet appointments and state contracts, the ruling party’s secretary-general said.
In her 355-page report, former Public Protector Thuli Madonsela gave a directive that Chief Justice Mogoeng Mogoeng name the judge who would chair the commission. While the African National Congress welcomes the establishment of the body, Secretary-General Gwede Mantashe said, Madonsela shouldn’t have ordered how it should be established. With past commissions, the president appointed the presiding officer.
“She should recommend that a commission be set up, full stop,” Mantashe, 61, said in an interview Thursday at Bloomberg’s Johannesburg office. “Because she defines how it should be put together, which is unconstitutional, it is being taken on review.”
In her report, Madonsela suggested Zuma and some ministers may have breached the government’s code of ethics in their relationship with the Gupta family, who are Zuma’s friends. It detailed allegations that the Guptas may have influenced the appointment of cabinet members and received special treatment for a coal business linked to the family and Zuma’s son, Duduzane.
That coal business sells fuel to state power company Eskom Holdings SOC Ltd. The utility has said it may challenge the report.
Zuma is still studying the report and considering all the available options, his spokesman Bongani Ngqulunga said by phone on Thursday.
“The fact that the president is accused, must never be abused to give authority where is does not exist,” Mantashe said. “That’s why the report will now be taken on review.”
The ANC believes such a commission of inquiry “will help us go deep into these issues,” he said.
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