Executive Director of the Council for the Advancement of the South African Constitution (Casac), Lawson Naidoo, has described as baseless the recusal application by former President Jacob Zuma against the Chairperson of the State Capture Commission, Deputy Chief Justice Raymond Zondo.
Zondo is expected to rule on Tuesday on whether he will recuse himself from hearing Zuma’s testimony.
Zuma’s lawyers allege their client has been treated unfairly by the commission.
The video below is on Monday’s State Capture Inquiry live stream:
The commission’s lawyers, however, rejected the claims saying they did not pass the test of what constitutes bias and therefore Zondo must remain.
Naidoo says is a ploy by Zuma to avoid testifying on the allegations made against him.
“Mr [Jacob] Zuma’s legal team made it clear that he was not going to testify before this commission. [Advocate Muzi] Sikhakhane had said that if the deputy chief justice dismisses the application for his recusal they will go to court and seek to review that decision and they will take it all the way were the words that he used.”
“And you know that would really mean that this matter gets tied up in the courts for probably many years and we know that the commission has got to end its work and submit its report by March 2021,” adds Naidoo.
In the video below, Naidoo unpacks Zuma’s recusal application:
