One of the country’s prominent lawyers, Vuyani Ngalwana SC, has called on President Cyril Ramaphosa and others who served in former president Jacob Zuma’s Cabinet to appear before the Zondo commission and account for their alleged roles in corruption and state capture.
In a 10-page formal request sent to the commission this week, Ngalwana blasted the manner in which it chose witnesses, saying it left out relevant people such as Cabinet members who served under Zuma between 2009 and 2018.
The acting judge of the North Gauteng High Court’s move comes weeks after Zuma’s lawyer Muzi Sikhakhane accused Zondo of bias and dismissed the commission as a political tool used to destroy and humiliate the former president.
Maintaining that he made the request in terms of rule 9.1 of the rules governing proceedings of the Judicial Commission of Inquiry into allegations of state capture, corruption and fraud in the public sector, including organs of the state, Ngalwana said the entire Cabinet should be questioned on their roles in the alleged corruption under Zuma.
The former chairperson of the General Council of the Bar of SA accused Ramaphosa of failing to take responsibility for governance failures at state-owned enterprises even though he was appointed chairperson of the Inter-Ministerial Committee into SOEs in 2016.
“Many state-owned enterprises are, by government’s own account, a financial and governance shambles and are, according to the media reports, riddled with corruption involving tenders of considerable amounts of money.
“Surely, the president can now be called by the commission to account for his role in the decimation of state-owned entities, particularly on what his interventions were to stabilise and reform these entities during his tenure as chair of Zuma’s IMC on state-owned enterprises, an
Are these allegations true or false? Will a bare denial of these allegations suffice for the Commission? Documents that could possibly serve as evidence of contributors to the President’s election campaign remain sealed from the public scrutiny by court order.
“I am informed that a court challenge to that decision has been mounted and that papers have already been prepared.
“But does the Commission not require that evidence in order to satisfy itself that there is no truth in these troubling allegations?”
Ramaphosa’s spokesperson Tyrone Seale on Friday said: “The president has on a number of occasions and public platforms declared his willingness to testify before the Commission.”
Commission spokesperson Reverend Mbuyiselo Stemela said he would process the Sunday Independent’s inquiry and revert. However, he failed to do so.
Ngalwana further said the commission should also investigate whether Ramaphosa and members of the present and previous national executive, including deputy ministers, breached the Constitution by facilitating unlawful awarding of tenders by the state-owned enterprises to benefit the Gupta family.
“The nature and extent of corruption, if any, in awarding of contracts and tenders to companies, business entities and organisations by government departments, agencies and entities.
In particular, whether any member of the national executive (including the president) public official, functionary or any organ of state influenced the awarding of tenders to benefit themselves, their families or entities in which they held a personal interest.”
On Friday, Ngalwana told Sunday Independent that as a concerned citizen he was motivated by the Constitution and the promotion of participatory democracy to demand the appearance of Ramaphosa and the previous Zuma Cabinet before the Zondo Commission.
* Ramaphosa, who was Zuma’s deputy between 2014 and 2018;d where, in his assessment, the failures and successes of his efforts lie,” said Ngalwana.
He insisted that Ramaphosa appear before Judge Zondo to clarify, among others, allegations that some of the donors who funded his successful ANC presidential campaign in 2017, CR17, were later rewarded with government contracts and appointments to the boards of SOEs.
In other news – What you need to know about Amapiano Gogo, Gee Six Five
If you’ve been on social media in the last week or so, you have probably seen an image or video of a new artist named Gee Six Five. Learn more
Source: IOL
No comments:
Post a Comment