By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
The chairperson of the Commission of Inquiry into Allegations of State Capture, Acting Chief Justice Raymond Zondo, has dismissed the application of former Correctional Services commissioner Arthur Fraser to cross-examine certain witnesses.
In October, Fraser claimed in a letter that he was never given a chance to give evidence before the commission to defend himself against witnesses who had implicated him at the commission.
“The fact that in three and a half years, Deputy Chief Justice Zondo did not even find a day for me to testify, demonstrates his lack of impartiality,” wrote Fraser.
The commission, however,rubbished his claims and said Fraser had been the one who never came forward despite public invitations by the commission between February 2018 and 2020.
It pointed out that they contacted Fraser’s attorney in August last year following his statements that he would disclose secrets about presidents and judges.
His attorney was allegedly uncooperative and told the commission’s investigators that he would use his “own channels and methods” to share the information.
In April this year,the former State Security Agency (SSA) director-general failed to arrive for his testimony.
Fraser’s attorney indicated at the time that he sought the disclosure and declassification of certain documents from SSA officials so he could testify at the commission.
“I stressed that my statement is incomplete without the documents I seek,” Fraser said in his affidavit.
Fraser was implicated in wrongdoing by some witnesses during their testimonies, specifically about the 600 million Principal Agent Network (PAN), among other things.
During a media briefing on Wednesday, 1 December, Zondo indicated that Fraser lodged his application on 9 March this year.
Zondo said he did not understand why Fraser went ahead with an order to compel the SSA to grant him the documents he wanted despite an email suggesting that the agency was willing to give him access to the documents. However, only if Fraser complied with chapter 27 of the Intelligence Services Act.
The reason why the applicant was not furnished with the documents he wanted from the [SSA] is that he failed to comply with the regulations that he had agreed to comply with and he has failed to do what is necessary for him to do in order to obtain the documents,” Zondo explained.
The chair said even though time has lapsed for him to testify at the commission it still invited Fraser to cooperate with its investigations.
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Video Courtesy of ENCA.