Mabuza: Let inquiries run their course
DEPUTY President David Mabuza has urged the public and MPs to wait until the Zondo Commission and other commissions of inquiry have finished their work before accusing people of wrongdoing.
Mabuza said anyone who has been found guilty of wrongdoing by these commissions will face the full might of the law.
This followed queries by EFF and DA MPs in Parliament yesterday, during question time to Mabuza, as to why ANC officials have not been charged for corruption, despite mounting evidence in these commissions.
DA MP Phumzile van Damme said even ANC acting spokesperson Zizi Kodwa had stepped aside while he was accused of rape allegations, but the ANC had not suspended any officials implicated in state capture and corruption.
Other opposition MPs said some senior ANC officials and Cabinet ministers had been implicated in the Zondo Commission, but no action had been taken against them.
Mabuza said it was the job of Deputy Chief Justice Raymond Zondo to compile a report after he has finished his work. He said the same applied to the other commissions of inquiry.“Let us not jump the gun. We cannot jump the gun and come to conclusions that so and so is guilty. Let us allow the commissions to run their course – that is the right thing to do,” said Mabuza.
He said those who have been implicated in the Zondo Commission and other commissions will have an opportunity to state their side of the story.
He said it did not matter who was implicated in corruption, the law must take its course.
The commissions of inquiry have been going on for several months.
President Cyril Ramaphosa announced in this year’s State of the Nation Address that a new unit would be established in the office of the National Director of Public Prosecutions, Shamila Batohi, to deal with cases of corruption and state capture.
The new unit will resemble the Scorpions, which was disbanded a few years ago.
Mabuza said no one was above the law. Anyone who has been on the wrong side of the law must be prosecuted.
Mabuza also said they were fast-tracking the issue of land reform in the country.
He said the inter-ministerial committee on land reform and the advisory panel would be meeting soon.
Ramaphosa appointed Mabuza to chair the inter-ministerial committee after Parliament adopted a report on the expropriation of land without compensation.
The Constitutional Review Committee will meet today to further discuss its process on the matter.
The ANC had planned to finalise the issue after the elections, but later changed its position.