DEMOCRACY in Action (DIA) said it would today file court papers in the South Gauteng High Court to stop Acting Chief Justice Raymond Zondo from releasing the State Capture report to President Cyril Ramaphosa.
DIA chairperson Thabo Mtshweni said that President Ramaphosa was conflicted so he should not be given the report because he had been implicated by some witnesses who appeared before the commission.
“We have written numerous letters to the commission, with the most recent one on December 20, to no avail from the commission about the legal permissibility of handing over of the report to the president, because in our view he is conflicted and was also implicated by some witnesses during the inquiry,” said Mtshweni.
He said the president should delegate someone or Deputy President David Mabuza to accept the report on his behalf.
In a statement issued by the commission last week, it said that it would submit Part I of the report by the end of this year, and Part II in January, while the final report (Part III) would be ready in February.
“The commission had previously indicated that it would complete its report and deliver it to the president before the end of December 2021. My team and I have worked very hard over the past months with a view to achieving that goal. In this regard a lot of progress has been made.
“Nevertheless, our recent assessment of the work has revealed that, while parts of the report relating to certain work streams or state-owned entities (SOEs) and topics will be ready before the end of December, there are some parts that relate to other work streams or SOEs or topics that will still need further work beyond the end of December if the commission is not to compromise the quality of the report. The commission believes that it should not compromise the quality of the report,” read the statement.
The statement further reads: “In light of this, the commission plans to divide its report into three parts, namely, Part I, Part II and Part III. Part I and Part II will, for all intents and purposes, constitute the first and second interim reports of the commission and Part III will be the commission’s final report. It will be possible to deliver Part I of the report to the president before the end of December, Part II before the end of January 2022 and Part III before the end of February 2022.”
Ramaphosa rejected sending the report in parts and said he wanted it in full in February. He is expected to table it in Parliament in June.
The commission had not responded to emailed questions by time of publication.