Former president Jacob Zuma with ANC secretary-general Ace Magashule. Picture: Facebook/ANC
ANC secretary-general Ace Magashule has defended former president Jacob Zuma’s defiance of the Constitutional Court (ConCourt) ruling compelling him to appear before the Commission of Inquiry into State Capture.
Magashule on Wednesday paid a courtesy visit to the family of late Rebecca Kotane, on behalf of the party’s national executive committee.
ANC Secretary General Ace Magashule on former President @PresJGZuma defying the constitutional court on appearing before the #StateCaptureInquiry. #sabcnews #Zuma pic.twitter.com/DWHhPjmhGt
— #TheLordOfTheMedia (@samkelemaseko) February 3, 2021
Magashule was asked for comment on the erstwhile president’s reaction on Monday, when he said that he would not cooperate with the commission, despite the ConCourt ruling last week compelling him to do so.
“Leave Zuma alone. What is the problem? What has Zuma done now?” Magashule asked.
Asked by journalists if it was okay for Zuma to defy the ConCourt ruling, Magashule said Zuma like any other citizen had rights too.
“I can’t talk on behalf of President Zuma. President Zuma is a South African. He has his own rights so you can’t want me to talk on behalf of President Zuma.”
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Asked if the ANC had discussed a possible sanction for the former president, Magashule replied that Zuma could not be suspended on the basis of his beliefs.
Meanwhile, the Ahmed Kathrada Foundation is the latest body to come out in support of the commission, after the commission on Tuesday announced it would be laying a criminal complaint against Zuma.
“This latest defiance of a Constitutional Court order to appear before the Zondo commission is a slap in the face of our democracy,” the foundation said in a statement.
It has since called for the ANC to take a decisive stance on its senior member’s deplorable conduct as this was not the first time that Zuma had failed to comply with remedial action taken against him.
“In the recent judgment against Zuma, his conduct is labelled ‘antithetical to our constitutional order’. It rings similar to the Nkandla judgment passed by Chief Justice Mogoeng Mogoeng several years ago in which Zuma’s failure to comply with remedial action taken against him by the public protector was found to be ‘inconsistent with his obligations to uphold, defend and respect the Constitution’,” reads the statement.
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