POLITICAL parties have largely welcomed the court challenge by President Jacob Zuma opposing the remedial action of the State of Capture report by former public protector advocate Thuli Madonsela.
The president reportedly approached the high court in Pretoria at the weekend for it to review and set aside the report’s recommendations.
He argued that a recommendation that a commission of inquiry be established into his conduct violated the rule of law, was inconsistent with the constitution – the supreme law of the land – and that it breached the principle of separation of powers.
In the explosive report, Madonsela recommended that Zuma appoint a commission of inquiry, whose judge must be selected by Chief Justice Mogoeng Mogoeng.
Yesterday, ANC secretary-general Gwede Mantashe told The Star: “We have been saying for a very long time that those who are implicated in the report have every legal right to take it on review.”
DA leader Mmusi Mai- mane’s spokesperson, Mabine Seabe, said: “We are not surprised the president is taking the matter on review.
“In fact, he is following the correct legal route. But that said, we believe he is going to court to delay and frustrate the process regarding the report’s recommendations.”
Seabe said they would file an opposing affidavit against Zuma. “Our lawyers are busy finalising the papers. We believe the report is final and that its recommendations should be implemented,” he added.
EFF deputy president Floyd Shivambu said it was “a good thing” that the president was taking the matter on review. “It is a victory for us that he is challenging it.
“It actually means that he now accepts the powers of the public protector. Remember, the Constitutional Court ruled during the Nkandla matter that if anyone is not happy with the recommendations of the public protector, they should take them on review,” said Shivambu.
The president has previously said the public protector’s recommendations were “mere recommendations” and not a verdict.
Shivambu said: “(The court would) expose the president. He won’t win.”
Political analyst Dumi- sani Hlophe said the interesting thing about democracy was that if parties were not happy with the report’s recommendations, “they can take it on review. And that’s what the president is doing.
“I don’t think it’s got anything to do with him accepting the public protector’s powers. It’s him not happy with the recommendations.”
Political analyst Ralph Mathekga said the president was taking the matter on review because “he knows he has to either comply with the recommendations or take them on review”.
“I think another reason he is taking the matter to court is because, from where he is sitting, Zuma doesn’t believe in the content of that report. He continues to deny the allegations on state capture.
“The report impinges his dignity and says a lot about his credibility,” Mathekga added.
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