Zuma must release terms of reference for State Capture Inquiry by tomorrow

18 January 2018

The DA has written to President Jacob Zuma to demand that he release the terms of reference for the Judicial Commission of Inquiry into State Capture.

The establishment of the Judicial Commission is so far beyond overdue it is astounding. If the President had respected the Constitutional mandate of the Public Protector, the report on the findings of the Judicial Inquiry should have been finalised by June last year, a full seven months ago.

It has also been almost a week since Zuma announced that the Commission would finally be established but nothing can proceed until the terms of reference have been clarified and released.

The allegations of State Capture have already undermined the public’s faith in the state. And, as the President himself noted, any further delays in establishing the Commission, “will make the public doubt government’s determination to dismantle all forms of corruption”.

In an interview on the weekend, ANC President, Cyril Ramaphosa, stated that he believed the terms of reference should conform to what is already set out in the former Public Protector, Thuli Madonsela’s, State of Capture Report which is very clear on the scope. It does not contemplate that the Commission of Inquiry would stray beyond these grounds.

It is time the ANC demonstrates their commitment to stamping out corruption, which has become rife under its watch. Failure to do so only confirms that the ANC under Ramaphosa will be the same as the ANC under Zuma.

The current Public Protector, Busisiwe Mkhwebane, appears to be intent on sowing confusion by contradicting her predecessor’s findings and obfuscating the true purpose of the Commission by calling for its scope to be widened – apparently at Zuma’s direction.

Mkhwebane’s proposal is neither practical nor in the interests of justice as it might result in the Commission sitting for years and being unable to complete its work because of an overly broad mandate.

In our correspondence with the President, the DA reminded him that any attempt to water down the scope of the Commission would be unlawful and undermine the powers of the Public Protector as per the Constitution.

The Commission must get to work urgently and probe the serious allegations of State Capture lodged against President Zuma, his son, Duduzane, and the controversial Gupta brothers. The ongoing discussion about the Terms of Reference for the inquiry and Zuma’s repeated attempts to have the report reviewed have been nothing but delaying tactics. The reality is that the Terms of Reference are already established by the Report, which must now simply be implemented.

Clearly defining the Terms of Reference will be in the best interests of all South Africans and must be done urgently so that we can address ongoing State Capture once and for all, and hold those responsible to account. The country has a right to know what specifically will be probed – Zuma can no longer hide.

Issued by James Selfe, Federal Executive Chairperson, 18 January 2018