State capture ‘threat to country’

‘The allegations are so serious they go to the foundations of our democracy’

DEPUTY Chief Justice Raymond Zondo says he will raise his concern should he feel President Jacob Zuma’s terms of reference of the state capture commission will hamper him from doing his job.

Yesterday, Justice Zondo described the allegations of state capture as contained in former public protector Thuli Madonsela as so serious that they threatened the country’s democracy.

The terms of reference for the commission, to be headed by him, have become a contentious issue, with some of Zuma’s supporters wanting the scope of the investigation to be widened to 1994.

Justice Zondo said he was still waiting for Zuma to finalise the terms of reference.

This included the publishing of the regulatory framework for the commission, which he said must be published in the Government Gazette.

Commission regulations allow chairpersons to appoint experts who assist the commission in various investigations.

“I have taken the attitude that because there are certain controversies with regard to the terms of reference. I will wait for those to be finalised.

“When they are finalised and are brought to me, I will look at them.

“If I have any concern with regard to whether they will allow me to do my job properly, I will raise that then,” he said.

“In my view the allegations are so serious that they go to the very foundations of our constitutional democracy.

“As you know some allegations are that certain people or individuals offered ministerial posts to certain people and it would have been people who had no constitutional power to make any such offers.

“In my view that is very, very serious.”

With other investigations under way into state capture-related corruption allegations, Justice Zondo said the commission would make a determination on how it would incorporate the work done by other institutions.

These include a parliamentary inquiry into Eskom and the work of the National Prosecuting Authority’s Asset Forfeiture Unit, which has seen R220 million in assets belonging to the Gupta family and companies linked to them being seized already.

“We will look at how we can benefit from these investigations as the commission.

“We do not want to make publications. We will sit down and make a determination on how we incorporate some of them,” said Justice Zondo.