Political analyst, Dirk Kotze, says former president Jacob Zuma has exhausted all legal options to avoid appearing before the Commission of Inquiry into State Capture.
His remarks comes after the Constitutional Court ordered the former president to appear and give evidence before the Commission.
The court has also declared that Zuma cannot invoke his right to remain silent as he had initially threatened.
“The significance of this judgment by the court is that it brings the Zuma saga at the Commission to an end. From a legal point of view, I don’t see any options still left for him in order to avoid appearing before the Commission again. The Concourt is the highest court in the country and he does not have any other options in terms of appeals or any other matter. So I think, for a legal point of view, this is it, there is no other option for him,” Kotze says.
Reaction to ConCourt ruling on Zuma’s appearance at State Capture:
On Friday, the Commission said it will take steps to get the judgment and Constitutional Court order served on Zuma.
Zuma’s lawyers are yet to respond to the court order.
The Commission wants Zuma to appear before it in order to answer to allegations levelled against him by over 30 witnesses.
However, the former president has largely been uncooperative with the Commission. Last year, he walked out without the permission of the presiding officer when his application for Deputy Chief Justice Raymond Zondo’s recusal failed. He then took the recusal matter on appeal.
