Bid to derail Thuli remedial action
Lawyers advise Zuma to take it under review
PRESIDENT Jacob Zuma already has a legal team working on an application to review former public protector Thuli Madonsela’s report on state capture – but only in six months’ time.
Yesterday, his office said his legal team would file the application within the 180 days following the release of the report as prescribed in the Promotion of Administrative Justice Act, giving him until March.
This means even if Zuma were to lose his bid to have Madonsela’s remedial action set aside, the judicial inquiry she instructed him to establish under a judge appointed by the chief justice might not complete its work before the ANC’s elective conference next December, giving him breathing space to attempt to engineer a favourable succession.
Madonsela gave Zuma 30 days to establish the inquiry and 180 days – another six months at least – for it to complete its work.
The Presidency said legal advice given to Zuma was for him to take the remedial action on review.
This suggests he will mainly attack the instruction for him to establish the inquiry and to allow the chief justice to select its chair – powers which constitutionally reside with the president – rather than the contents of the report.
The report made no findings, but presented evidence in support of claims that the Guptas exercised undue influ- ence on the appointment of cabinet ministers, board members and executives of stateowned enterprises and awarding of government business.
Madonsela said in her report that it was Zuma himself who had argued in relation to the EFF’s Nkandla court challenge that he could not be seen to act as the judge and jury in a matter affecting him.
It was for this reason she gave him no choice in whether or not to establish an inquiry and asked him to let the chief justice select a judge to chair it.
But it is not clear if the Constitutional Court would agree the president’s powers can be usurped in this manner, despite the conflict of interest .
If it did this would also call into question the legitimacy of the Seriti Commission of Inquiry into the arms deal, which Zuma appointed despite having an interest in the outcome.
Zuma made it clear on Wed- nesday at his last question and answer session in Parliament for the year that he felt wronged by Madonsela’s report.
He said no one could instruct the president to establish a commission of inquiry and prescribe the process.
It was also the “culture” for the public protector to furnish affected parties with a provisional report and give them an opportunity to respond before the release of the final report.
Madonsela’s “State of Capture” report had been handled in “a very funny way” with “no fairness at all”, Zuma said.
He was responding to an accusation by DA leader Mmusi Maimane that he had misled Parliament when he said in the National Council of Provinces that he had not been given a chance to answer the allegations against him, when the transcript of his conversation with Madonsela showed he had.