Statement on President Zuma's appeal against court judgment to establish an independent judicial commission to investigate state capture

Johannesburg, 23 December 2017

The appeal by President Jacob Zuma against the North Gauteng High Court judgment to establish an independent judicial commission to investigate state capture should be viewed as a serious cause for concern. All Alliance partners, inclusive of the ANC, and therefore without exception, and a wide range of other deeply concerned South Africans welcomed the judgment and called on President Zuma to comply. The appeal will prove to be a waste of tax payers' money and a further delaying tactic particularly should it be dismissed. 

The SACP was the first organisation to call for an independent judicial commission to investigate corporate state capture. Our support for the commission however goes beyond this historical fact and is a matter of fundamental principle. South Africa needs to root out corruption in all its manifestation if it is to become a prosperous society underpinned by a fully developed democracy without the exploitation of public resources, national wealth and one person by another.  

Former Public Protector Thuli Madonsela conducted an investigation and prescribed as a remedial action the establishment of the commission and her report entitled the "State of Capture" as the basis for its independent investigation. The report further prescribed the selection criterion for the judge to head the commission - this because President Zuma is implicated and has a conflict of interest that could compromise the independence of the commission. In his own words as quoted in the report on another matter where he was conflicted President Zuma said he did not establish an investigation because he could not act as a jury and a judge in his own case.

Statement issued by the SACP, 23 December 2017