President Jacob Zuma has filed a conditional counter application to try stop the DA’s bid to force him to launch a judicial commission of enquiry into state capture.<\/p>\n
The DA brought an application in the Gauteng High Court seeking that it be declared that Zuma has failed to comply with the remedial action taken against him as set out in the Public Protector’s State of Capture report.<\/p>\n
The DA is arguing that Zuma’s review proceedings did not suspend the Public Protector’s orders, and said the president should have set up the commission within 30 days as ordered.<\/p>\n
However, Zuma is now trying to block that court bid, saying that he does not simply have to do what the Public Protector says if he doubts a report’s correctness.<\/p>\n
“The legal advice obtained by the president is to the effect that he is in law not entitled to just comply with a report of the public protector if there are reasons to doubt its correctness.<\/p>\n
“To do so will amount to a mechanical response; this is irreconcilable with the logic and rights exercisable by a person adversely affected by such a determination.<\/p>\n
“Absent a review application, the president is not entitled to simply ignore the findings, decisions or remedial action taken by the Public Protector,” the presidency said.<\/p>\n
“The president was further advised that the implementation of the remedial action in the current form would render academic the review application in its entirety.”<\/p>\n
Zuma’s legal team made a request that if the court finds that the president does indeed need a suspension order, that he be granted time to get one.<\/p>\n
The president’s case to review the state capture report does not relate to the findings of the report, but rather the order that a judicial commission of enquiry be set up.<\/p>\n
According to Zuma, the Public Protector does not have the power to order how a president should set up a judicial commission, and such an order would be unconstitutional.<\/p>\n
Because Zuma was implicated in the report, the Public Protector said a judge to head the commission should appointed by the chief justice to avoid the conflict of interest in the president heading an investigation into himself.<\/p>\n
Zuma said that he is not opposed to the commission, but wants to control the process as is his constitutional mandate.<\/p>\n
The matter is set down for hearing on 12 and 13 September 2017.<\/p>\n