Photo: Twitter
Photo: Twitter
Some 34 months after the State Capture Inquiry began taking oral submissions from key witnesses, DCJ Raymond Zondo made a major announcement on Tuesday – the Commission will no longer invite witnesses to give evidence in person, once President Cyril Ramaphosa has delivered the second part of his testimony next week.
Ramaphosa and out – beginning of the end for long-running State Capture Inquiry
The long, long road to reconciliation has been bumpy, and plagued with obstacles. Those summoned to the hot seat haven’t always been cooperative, and that includes appearances from one of our former presidents. However, the State Capture Inquiry was responsible for exposing the rot at Bosasa – and also turned up more dirt on the Gupta brothers.
Zondo explained to those in attendance earlier this morning that a significant part of the entire process is being wrapped up. The Commission itself won’t completely disappear though, and indeed, they are looking for another extension in order to complete their final written report – which may be used to try and extradite the Guptas back to South Africa.
“On the whole, the Commission wishes to wrap up oral evidence, because by the end of his evidence it would’ve covered all the evidence relating to the matters included in the Public Protector’s report that gave rise to this Inquiry.”
“We tried to complete oral evidence in March but did not succeed. However, the Commission plans to go to the High Court to request another extension so that they can have time to complete the State Capture Inquiry report.”
Zondo Commission will make Cyril ‘their last witness’
The next determined dates for Ramaphosa’s appearance will be Monday 31 May and Tuesday 1 June 2021. Zondo confirmed that Cyril will appear in his capacity as SA’s head of state – but there are still ‘outstanding issues’ that the President must deal with, in relation to his previous appearance at the State Capture Inquiry.
DCJ says the next determined dates for President Ramaphosa's appearance will be – 31 May and 1 June 2021 . He says the President will appear on his capacity as the president of the Country. #StateCaptureInquiry
— State Capture Commission (@StateCaptureCom) May 25, 2021
