Zondo and case of Zuma’s doctor
It has been nearly three months since deputy chief justice Raymond Zondo agreed to meet Jacob Zuma’s military doctor about the “very serious” medical condition which the former president claims has left him unable to testify at the state capture inquiry.
It has been nearly three months since deputy chief justice Raymond Zondo agreed to meet Jacob Zuma’s military doctor on the “very serious” medical condition the former president says left him unable to testify at the inquiry into state capture.
But the inquiry has now confirmed that Zondo has not taken Zuma up on that offer yet, a possible indication of Zondo’s and his legal team’s growing awareness that such a meeting has become a huge minefield for the commission.
That is not least of all because of controversy that surrounds Zakes Motene, the South African Military Health Services doctor who leads the team providing medical care to the former president and who Zondo would have met.
Motene reportedly provided Zuma with the sick note that the high court in Pietermaritzburg refused to accept as evidence that Zuma was too ill to attend his corruption trial.
Zuma loyalist Gayton McKenzie, in his self-published book,
named Motene as the doctor who travelled in 2014 with the then president to Russia in 2014 for treatment for poisoning.
The National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) elected not to prosecute Zuma’s former wife, Nompumelelo Ntuli-Zuma, or anyone else for that alleged poisoning, largely on the grounds that there was no medical evidence that Zuma had in fact been poisoned. Judge Dhaya Pillay was not convinced by the sick note, allegedly signed by Motene, which Zuma’s lawyers used to explain his absence from court on February 4 this year.
Under the heading “medical condition”, Motene had stated: “medical condition”.
The note also contained the term “layman’s diagnosis” ,a term that Pillay said she found puzzling. Not satisfied with the Motene note, Pillay issued a suspended warrant for Zuma’s arrest, meaning that he and his lawyers may be required to provide further evidence on his health if and when the case returns to court.
Given Zuma’s manifest reluctance to provide any further information about his health, on the basis that it is a matter of national security, it is unlikely that he will agree to any further disclosures.
And that is exactly why Zondo may be thinking twice about meeting Motene, or any other members of Zuma’s medical team. Many media reports have already suggested strongly that Zuma believes that his latest bout of ill-health was caused by poisoning. If this diagnosis is disclosed to Zondo, as a legal rather than a medical professional, he may not be in a position to question it.
Further, Zondo would not be able to release any information about what he was told, meaning that whether he is convinced by his consultation with Zuma’s doctors or not, Zondo cannot disclose the reasons for his rejection or acceptance of the information they give him.
So will Zondo actually go through with this meeting?
“The deputy chief justice has also not taken a decision not to have such a meeting,” Zondo commission spokesperson Mbuyiseni Stemela told Business Day.
“The commission still intends to have Mr Zuma appear before it in due course,” said Stemela.
One thing is clear: the Zondo inquiry’s legal team remains intent on forcing Zuma to appear before it through the use of a subpoena and will proceed with its application for such a summons.
That means Zondo is going to be forced to make a call on whether he actually takes up Zuma’s offer for a confidential meeting with his doctors. If he does not, Zondo will undoubtedly face accusations that he has not honoured his public commitment to seek clarity from the former president’s doctors about his medical condition.
If he does, he will be unable to do anything meaningful with the information he receives. No wonder Zondo is considering his options in this minefield, hoping perhaps that the high court in Pietermaritzburg will give him a map to get out of it.
ZONDO INQUIRY’S LEGAL TEAM REMAINS INTENT ON FORCING ZUMA TO APPEAR BEFORE IT THROUGH THE USE OF A SUBPOENA