Johannesburg - The DA has welcomed the decision by the Commission of Inquiry into State Capture to lay a criminal complaint against former president Jacob Zuma following his alleged failure to appear and testify before the commission in January this year.
The commission, through its secretary Professor Itumeleng Mosala, has also indicated its intention to consider further action against Zuma should he fail to obey a summons issued for his appearance on Monday.
Advocate Glynnis Breytenbach, DA spokesperson on justice and correctional services, said urgent steps also needed to be taken by law enforcement agencies to ensure this complaint is registered and, moreover, that Zuma is compelled to testify during his scheduled appearance on February 15 to 19.
“If Zuma is allowed to continue this contemptuous behaviour, it will entrench a perception that he is above the law.
“The SAPS in particular needs to be prepared to arrest Zuma should he fail to show up. If he carries through with his planned defiance, Zuma must be arrested and face the full consequences of his appalling behaviour, just like any other citizen would have to do,” Breytenbach said.
She said Zuma had always been deeply uncomfortable with the concept of a constitutional democracy, with the supremacy of the Constitution saying he has always lived outside these boundaries, setting up a parallel state to protect and entrench himself as leader.
Breytenbach also said the public had collectively decided on a constitutional democracy as the only way to protect “all of us from arbitrary tin pot dictators like Zuma”.
“The law must now take its course, and now, finally, there must be consequences for Zuma,” she said.
Political Bureau