Zuma to take ‘state capture’ report on review

“The president has considered and also sought legal advice on the contents of the report, as well as the remedial action to be taken,” the Presidency said in a statement.

According to the report, Madonsela uncovered corrupt activities involved in the Gupta state capture saga, and recommended that a judicial inquisition of enquiry be set up to investigate the matter.

President Zuma has denied any wrongdoing.

The Democratic Alliance said it would be filing papers to oppose Zuma’s application to review the remedial action required by the report.

“While president Zuma is operating within the parameters of the law by taking the report on judicial review, we must remember that he has a long history of using the courts, which he has no respect for, to delay being held accountable for his acts of corruption,” said DA leader Mmusi Maimane.

“What is clear is that the resident wants to use the courts to buy himself time while he plots his next move in order to again avoid accountability. We will not allow him to get out of this crisis of his own making.”

The party said that the president must be made to fund his own litigation instead of using public money for his personal benefit and political machinations.

The DA said that the report found, among other things that president Zuma exposed himself to “a possible conflict of interest between the president as head of state and his private interest as a friend and father as envisaged under section 2.3(c) of the Executive Ethics Code which regulates conflict of interest and section 195 of the Constitution which requires a high level of professional ethics. Sections 96(2)(b) and (c) of the Constitution are also relevant.”

Furthermore, the report in remedial action instructed that the president:

• Establish a judicial commission on inquiry;
• The President to ensure that the Executive Ethics Code is updated in line with the review of the Executive Members’ Ethics Act.

The most pertinent findings by the Public Protector’s report include:

• President Zuma improperly and in violation of the Executive Ethics Code, allowed members of the Gupta family and his son, Duduzane Zuma, to be involved in the process of removal and appointment of the Minister of Finance in December 2015;

• Deputy Minister Jonas was offered a job by the Gupta family in exchange for extending favours to their family business;

• Minister Van Rooyen – who replaced Minister Nene – can be placed at the Saxonwold area on at least seven occasions including on the day before he was announced as Minister;

• That between the period 2 August 2015 and 22 March 2016, Eskom CEO Brain Molefe has called Mr Ajay Gupta a total of 44 times and Mr Ajay Gupta has called Mr Molefe a total of 14 times;

• The Eskom board was improperly appointed;

• Zuma and the Executive failed to take action to verify Ms Mentor’s allegations, as well as Mr Maseka’s allegations, as well as regarding the alleged cozy relationship between Brian Molefe and the Guptas;

• President Zuma and other Cabinet members improperly interfered in the relationship between banks and Gupta owned companies;

• President Zuma improperly and in violation of the Executive Ethics Code used his position or information entrusted to him to enrich himself and businesses owned by the Gupta family and his son to be given preferential treatment in the award of state contracts, business financing and trading licences;

• The South African people were prejudiced by the conduct of President Zuma, in not following up on Jonas’s allegations;

• Minister Zwane’s trip to Switzerland was irregular;

• Eskom’s awarding of the coal contract to Tegeta was irregular;

• That government advertising was deliberately channeled to the Gupta’s newspaper, the New Age;

• That the President may have been in breach of his legal duties in failing to investigate these matters or put act against them.

“If Zuma will not resign, we look forward to the DA’s Motion of No Confidence in President Zuma being debated in Parliament in the coming weeks,” Maimane said.

“This affords Parliament the opportunity to end Jacob Zuma’s disastrous presidency by relieving him of his duties once and for all. This report gives additional weight to this Motion of No Confidence, and there is no reasonable excuse for the ANC in Parliament to reject this motion in support of Jacob Zuma.”

The published report can be downloaded and read in full here

Read: How Zuma and friends tried to frustrate the state capture investigation