State Capture: Report must be released within 24 hours following Zuma’s interdict withdrawal 

2 November 2016

The Democratic Alliance (DA) welcomes the decision by President Zuma’s legal team to withdraw the frivolous and vexatious application to interdict the release of the Public Protector’s State Capture report.

From the outset, we have maintained that this application was without merit, and a malicious delaying tactic to halt the inevitable release of this report, which no doubt implicates the President. 

Indeed, yet another defeat in court for Jacob Zuma was inevitable.

There now remains no good reason for this report to remain under wraps. Section 8(3) of the Public Protector Act states that “The findings of an investigation by the Public Protector shall, when he or she deems it fit but as soon as possible, be made available to the complainant and to any person implicated thereby.”

This is to be read in conjunction with section 182(5) of the Constitution, which states that any report issued by the Public Protector must be open to the public unless exceptional circumstances require that a report be kept confidential.

It is now incumbent on the Public Protector, Adv Busisiwe Mkhwebane, in terms of the Constitution and the law, to furnish me with a copy of the report as the complainant in this matter.

I have written to her office in this regard, requesting that this be done within the next 24 hours.

Issued by Mabine Seabe, Spokesperson to the DA Leader, 2 November 2016