Court to decide if Ramaphosa should lead state capture inquiry into Zuma
Three non-profit organisations, the Quaker Peace Centre, the FW de Klerk Foundation and AfriForum have approached the Constitutional Court to compel President Jacob Zuma to allow his deputy, Cyril Ramaphosa, to set up a judicial commission of inquiry into state capture.
According to a report by the Sunday Independent, the parties are alleging that there are a number of reasons for Zuma not to appoint the commission, and that there was a risk he would expose himself and members of his family to civil and criminal liability.
The parties contend that in terms of section 90(1) of the Constitution, in which the president is “otherwise unable to fulfill his duties” or “there is any situation involving the risk of a conflict between official responsibilities and private interests”, the duty to lead an inquiry would then expressly fall on the deputy-president.
As a result, the parties contend that because President Zuma has been directly implicated in reports of state capture by the Gupta family, there is now a clear conflict between his official responsibilities and private interests.
In a legal analysis on Legalbrief, the question of whether Ramaphosa should be compelled to lead the inquiry will hinge on whether recent events regarding Zuma and the Gupta family constitute an actual conflict of interest.
In addition, Constitutional law expert Pierre de Vos noted that, while the applicants were making a plausible argument, he was not sure whether the court would make a ruling that a judicial commission of inquiry must be made by the Deputy President due to the doctrine of separation of powers.
Read: Mkhwebane has stalled at least 4 Gupta probes over the last year: report
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