In its letter to chairperson of the Commission, Acting Chief Justice Raymond Zondo, the organisation said it was their considered view that Ramaphosa was not a desired person to receive the report.
CIVIL society organisation Democracy in Action has written to the Commission of Inquiry into State Capture questioning whether it was “legally permissible” to hand over its report to President Cyril Ramaphosa.
The group have based their query on a number of reasons, including the fact that he was mentioned by some witnesses as having played a role in state capture.
The organisation added that Ramaphosa was the deputy president during some of the years in question by the Commission.
Earlier this month, the Zondo Commission announced it intended to hand over its report into state capture allegations to Ramaphosa on January 1 following three years of intense testimony revealed at the Commission.
Minister in the Presidency Mondli Gungubele said they hoped the report would enable the state to fight corruption wherever it reared its ugly head.
He said the report was also part of the ongoing plan in the criminal justice system to crack down on corruption.
In its letter to the chairperson of the Commission, Acting Chief Justice Raymond Zondo, the organisation said it was their considered view that Ramaphosa was not the desired person to receive the report.
The letter was signed off by Democracy in Action chairperson Thabo Mtsweni.
“We would like to enquire from the Commission if it is legally permissible to hand over the report of the Commission to President Cyril Ramaphosa who was for the great part of the years in questions of the State Capture was involved in one way or the other,” Mtsweni’s letter read.
Democracy in Action listed some of its reasons for raising the question.
Mentioned on the list was that Ramaphosa was deputy president from May 2014 to February 2018 which included the years that state capture was rampant.
It also stated that Ramaphosa was head of the deployment committee that played a “huge” role in the appointment of some of the leaders to state-owned enterprises and he was the leader of government business as deputy president.
Ramaphosa was the leader of the inter-ministerial committee of Eskom’s war room, SAA and the Post Office, all of which formed part of the inquiry by the Commission.
It also listed that Ramaphosa was a shareholder of a private company, Glencore, that was contracted to Eskom.
“The President was also a witness to the same Commission of Inquiry, this will also create a conflict of interest because he now has to implement a report that he was also a witness during the enquiry; and his remarks about the ‘nine wasted years’ that also form part of the inquiry,” Mtsweni’s letter read further.
The Commission is yet to respond to IOL’s enquiry regarding the letter.
Political Bureau
