Lawyer Vuyani Ngalwana has sent a written request to deputy chief justice Raymond Zondo to invite President Cyril Ramaphosa and some of his cabinet members to account for the “nine wasted years” under former president Jacob Zuma.
Ngalwana said: “My request is that the deputy president during the period that has been dubbed by some as ‘nine wasted years’… should be invited … to give oral evidence before the commission and be questioned on their evidence.”
Ngalwana also said “Ideally, the entire cabinet of those years should have been questioned by the commission on their role in the alleged corruption of those years.” This has not been done.
Ngalwana states: “I appreciate the commission has limited time to complete its work by March 31 2021 and it may not be feasible to obtain the evidence of all these persons and assess it in time before the final report of the commission is due for submission to the president who, ironically, is one of those persons who should be questioned.
“But that.. is of the commission’s own doing by the choices it has made as regards which witnesses to invite, leaving out persons who are, in my submission, clearly relevant witnesses capable of shedding light on alleged ‘state capture’ during their time in [former] president Zuma’s cabinet and senior official positions in organs of state.”
Ngalwana referred to the unanswered issues over Nkandla, the State-owned Enterprises, and the funding of President Ramaphosa’s presidential election campaign.
“My emphasis is … that the terms of reference are wider than just [former] president Zuma, the Gupta family and those portrayed as being associated with them. The terms of reference enjoin the commission to probe also persons who were part of Zuma’s cabinet and public officials (such as directors-general).”