Chairperson of the State Capture Commission of Inquiry, Deputy Chief Justice Raymond Zondo, has granted former Finance Minister Des van Rooyen permission to cross-examine former Treasury Director General Lungile Fuzile before giving evidence.
Van Rooyen who will be testifying on Tuesday was appointed Finance Minister by then-President Jacob Zuma, following the shocking removal of Nhlanhla Nene in December 2015.
His appointment, however, lasted four days due to a nationwide #ZumaMustFall protest, which resulted in Zuma replacing Van Rooyen with Pravin Gordhan.
In his testimony to the Commission in November 2018, Fuzile alleged Van Rooyen called him to a meeting following his appointment in December 2015, during which he was asked to appoint Gupta-linked advisors Ian Whitley and Mohamed Bobat, despite Van Rooyen clearly being unsure about what they would actually do.
Earlier, Van Rooyen’s lawyer Advocate Thabani Masuku argued that Fuzile should be cross-examined before his client testifies.
“That is the complete set of his evidence; his evidence is only complete when he’s been cross-examined that is the only basis on which you can go to the people he implicates with the full evidence of Mr Fuzile. Right now Mr Van Rooyen will take the stand before Mr Fuzile testifies, what is the purpose of cross-examining Mr Fuzile after Van Rooyen has given his evidence,” argued Masuku.
Below is the live stream of the State Capture Inquiry for Tuesday:
