Staff Reporter.
@Daylin Paul.
ANC deputy secretary-general Jessie Duarte told the party’s national officials she believes former president Jacob Zuma should not appear before deputy chief justice Raymond Zondo at the state capture inquiry he chairs.
Another leaked audio recording from last month’s meeting between the ANC’s top six officials and Zuma has emerged on social media.
This time the clip is of Duarte, who can be heard questioning the scope of investigations by the Commission of Inquiry into Allegations of State Capture and its treatment of former president Jacob Zuma.
Zuma met virtually with the ANC’s top six leaders, which include President Cyril Ramaphosa and ANC secretary-general Ace Magashule, over his refusal to appear before the commission in February as ordered by the Constitutional Court.
The former statesman has argued that the inquiry’s chair, Deputy Chief Justice Raymond Zondo, is biased against him and claimed they have a close personal relationship.
In the two minute and 20 second clip, Duarte said the commission appeared to have evolved into a court of law and was no longer a judicial commission of inquiry.
“It’s not like we can’t see what is wrong with Zondo and the president in his opening statement [speaks] about the machinations at the commission and that is because we ourselves have looked at those machinations. For example, the fact that it has turned into a court, it’s no longer a commission. They have almost a prosecutorial attitude towards people,” she said.
Duarte also said they had convinced former ANC MP Vincent Smith to appear before the commission, only to be “slapped with a criminal court case”. Smith faces corruption charges over bribery allegations related to Bosasa.
“So, I think there are those issues that need to be examined and looked at, “Duarte said.
Duarte also said she does not personally believe that Zuma should appear before the commission due to his grievances against Zondo.
“Personally I believe that it is absolutely not a good thing for comrade Zuma to do, given the personal [and] historical antagonism that exists between them. And the unfortunate way in which judge Zondo presented himself after he presided, as comrade Zuma said, over his own case, “she said.
She also said she does not believe the commission was “pandering to the sentiments of white monopoly capital” or monopoly capital of any kind.
“Comrade Zuma I must tell you that monopoly capital has changed colour. There is no use pretending there are no black monopoly capitalists in our system. I can name quite a few who are quite vicious towards other black people. But what is really at stake here is whether or not there is a possibility to find a solution for comrade Zuma in the situation he finds himself in.”
In another audio, Duarte also slammed Chief Justice Mogoeng Mogoeng, saying she was disappointed in him for advancing his religious beliefs.
“The greatest disappointment for me is the chief justice of our country who behaves as if he has no understanding of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa.”
In February, Duarte issued a formal apology addressed to Justice Zondo after a backlash to an op-ed she penned for the Daily Maverick.