Johannesburg - The SACP has called for President Jacob Zuma to urgently establish a commission of inquiry into state capture, and may even approach the Constitutional Court to force his hand.
The party said it was aware that Zuma was delaying establishing an inquiry, but warned it was inevitable as someone had to face the music.
SACP second deputy general-secretary Solly Mapaila said although the party did not have enough money to approach the highest court in the land, if it could gain some financial backing it would ask the Constitutional Court to intervene.
“We can still also consider taking the legal avenue petitioning the Constitutional Court for a judicial inquiry. The inquiry can still be done even in the coming years," he said.
"What he (Zuma) doesn’t realise is he has the ability to set the terms of reference now and we don’t want him to abuse that space. It can still be done with or without him. It’s an important call,” said Mapaila on the sidelines of the SACP’s Imbizo in Joburg on Saturday.
The party convened a two-day national imbizo, which started on Friday, with the hope of finding answers to issues facing the country and the ANC-led alliance.
Individuals from the ANC, SACP and Cosatu were present including civil organisations such as Save SA and business represented by organisations such as Business Leadership SA and Business Unity SA.
Mapaila said although the imbizo was not entirely focused on Zuma, he was at the centre of the issues within the ANC and the government. Mapaila reiterated the party’s stance that the first step for self-correction for the ANC remained the removal of Zuma as the head of state.
“We felt that this platform is where we can find a way to self-correct. We still believe that the alliance still has the ability to self-correct and that the first step of this self-correction is the ANC taking a good decision to remove Jacob Zuma as the president of the country,” said Mapaila.
The SACP initially made the call in March after Zuma's cabinet reshuffle, which saw the axeing of former finance minister Pravin Gordhan and his deputy Mcebisi Jonas.
A few weeks later Cosatu joined the calls for Zuma to step down, even though its president, S'dumo Dlamini, is perceived to be a close Zuma ally.
The SACP’s sentiments were echoed by a submission from Business Leadership South Africa’s deputy chairperson Bonang Mohale who also called for an inquiry into state capture, saying the country had been “placed for sale”.
The body is also calling for the Eskom board to be disbanded with a new chief executive to be appointed to replace the recently re-appointed Brian Molefe.
Mohale said though Eskom was the first priority, a number of other state-owned enterprises, such as SAA, Denel and the SABC, had to be reined in. The conclusion of the imbizo was expected to reveal more details on the way ahead, with the signing of a declaration.