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‘Opposition parties using Zuma’s refusal to appear before Inquiry for political goals’

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KwaZulu-Natal Premier and Provincial African National Congress (ANC) Chairperson Sihle Zikalala has accused opposition parties of using former president Jacob Zuma’s refusal to appear before the Commission of Inquiry into State Capture for their own political goals.

Legal experts say Zuma’s decision to defy a summons puts him at risk of arrest after a Constitutional Court judgment ordered him to appear before the Commission.

 Zuma’s lawyers said in a letter to the Commission on Monday that the summons was not in line with the order that the court handed down last month.

They also raised the matter of Zuma’s application to review the Commission’s chairperson, Deputy Chief Justice Raymond Zondo’s, decision not to recuse himself from hearing his client’s testimony, saying appearing before him while that was pending would undermine the legal process.

Zikalala commented on Zuma’s recent meeting with Economic Freedom Fighters leader Julius Malema.

He says, “ We are not worried about it. We know what it means. We know that the opposition will want to manipulate any crisis or challenge that is within the ANC for their own gain. This is politicking and we are not going to fall into a trap of entertaining that. It is not going to be an issue with us as the ANC.”

Below is the full interview with Zikalala:

Zuma’s support

The Radical Economic Transformation group in Gauteng says it fully supports Zuma’s refusal to appear before the  Commission.

The group briefed the media in Johannesburg on Monday.

Their spokesperson Carl Niehaus says they understand Zuma’s sense of being victimised:

Professor of Public Law at the University of Cape Town, Richard Calland says the Constitutional Court has to decide whether Zuma has honoured the order of the court and then issue a penalty:

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