EFF statement on the Seriti Commission Report being set aside by the High Court
21 August 2019
The EFF notes, with shock, the judgment of the North Gauteng High Court, setting aside the report and findings of the Seriti Commission of Inquiry into the Arms Deal.
The Judge President, Dunstan Mlambo, did not hold back in detailing how the Seriti Commission deliberately, and dismally, failed to perform its mandated duties. He held that they did not pursue the truth, hold those in charge accountable, and treated many implicated witnesses with kids gloves. In essence, they made a mockery of justice itself.
Accordingly, the country must ask why it is that Judge Seriti, and/or those who appointed him are not being asked to pay personal costs. This is because it must be a double insult to expect South African taxpayers, who have already forked out about RI 50 million to pay for the Commission, to now also pay for legal costs. This would amount to South African taxpayers sponsoring their own robbery.
The major irregularities identified by the court in the Seriti Commission Report, are far worse, and more costly, than the ABSA and the Estina Dairy court reviews concerning the Public Protector. It cannot be that the Public Protector is directed to pay personal costs, yet those in the Seriti Commission, who "deliberately" failed to perform their mandate, are absolved from doing so.