Zuma admits he is “implicated”

Zuma admits he is “implicated” in Madonsela’s ‘state capture’ report

El presidente has filed a second affidavit to strengthen his case against having former public protector Thuli Madonsela’s state capture report released.

Zuma admits he is “implicated”

One affidavit’s never enough, especially if you’re going to make sure the public doesn’t see whatever it is you’re trying to keep hidden.

Zuma’s second affidavit asks that the new president… ahem, Public Protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane tell him whether or not the report in its current state is the final one. In it, the president also confirms that he’s known since October 2 that he’s been implicated in the state capture report.

BusinessTech reports that the affidavit clarifies Mkhwebane’s position, which is that she doesn’t want to make any decisions and would rather leave the court to decide whether and when the report should be released.

After the president got an  interdict against having the report released, the DA stepped in, saying they’d be challenging the application; but Zuma says the opposition – who’s given him more than one beating in court – contradicts itself , as it claims the state capture investigation is ongoing, but that the report is finalised.

Zuma claims he wasn’t given enough time to answer Madonsela’s questions, as he only became interested in the report once he was notified on October 2 that he was implicated in it.

‘An “implicated person” is defined as someone who is shown to be party to a crime, Zuma said, and this changed what was supposed to be a briefing by the Public Protector on 6 October into a de facto interrogation’.

El presidente and Des van Rooyen applied for an interdict preventing the report from being published, but after finding out that he wasn’t implicated. Van Rooyen withdrew his application.

“I have a right, a legal right, to exercise my rights. This is what I’ve done in terms of the public protector’s report. I interdicted it because she was going to issue a report having not talked to me or asked me questions,” Zuma said.