By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
Photo Credit: Alon Skuy.
ANC secretary-general Ace Magashule has defended former president Jacob Zuma after he vowed to defy a ConCourt order to appear before the State Capture Commission.
He was speaking just days after Zuma publicly said he would defy a Constitutional Court order that he must appear before the state capture inquiry.
On Monday, Zuma said he would not co-operate with the inquiry despite the apex court’s ruling compelling him to do so. He said he did not fear imprisonment should his decision be considered a violation of the law, a move which has been heavily criticised.
However, Magashule said Zuma had done nothing wrong.
“What has Zuma done now? Just leave comrade Zuma alone. Zuma is a South African. He has his own rights,” Magashule said.
He was reacting to calls by the ANC in the Eastern Cape for Zuma to be brought to book for his reaction to the commission’s summonses.
Magashule says the ANC will not entertain calls for Zuma to be suspended from the party. “Why should we suspend a person who believes in what he believes in?
“It’s wrong for comrades to try and become populists and talk about Zuma all the time. They are populists who say Zuma must resign or be removed from the ANC. Zuma is part of the ANC.
“There is no structure of the ANC, be it a province or region, which can call for Zuma to be disciplined. They are out of order, and these are the populists who always try to do this, and the ANC is quiet about these populists who like to appear in the media.”
Magashule himself is facing charges of corruption in connection with the Free State asbestos project.
The Constitutional Court ruled that Zuma must return to the Commission to answer vital questions about state corruption. A failure to do so could lead to the 78-year-old’s arrest on Monday 15 February – the day his showdown with Raymond Zondo is set down for.
The commission said it will open a criminal case against Zuma for failing to appear before it last month – and will consider further action should he fail to appear again in his next appearance.
In a statement on Tuesday night, commission secretary Prof Itumeleng Mosala confirmed that inquiry chairman, deputy chief justice Raymond Zondo, had instructed him to have the case opened against Zuma.
Mosala also slammed the former president for refusing to follow a Constitutional Court order for him to appear before and – and answer questions at – the commission.