Constitutional Court Rules That Zuma Must Appear, Testify at Inquiry

Thursday, January 28, 2021 at 11:23 AM by Samantha Riddle

- The Constitutional Court has ruled that Jacob Zuma has to appear and testify before the State Capture Inquiry

- This means that Zuma will be required to obey all summonses issued by the Commission

- The court has also ruled that the ex-president's conduct is in breach of the Constitution

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The Constitutional Court has now ruled that former president Jacob Zuma has to appear and testify before the State Capture Inquiry.

Mainstream — Zuma will now be legally compelled to appear and testify. Image: KIM LUDBROOK/POOL
Source: Getty Images

The former president will now be required to obey all summonses issued by the Inquiry.

In addition to this, the apex court ruled that Zuma's conduct is in breach of the Constitution.

The State Capture Inquiry lodged an urgent application seeking to compile the ex-president to appear before it.

In addition to attempting to prompt an appearance, the Commission wanted to compel Zuma to answer questions at the Inquiry.

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To add to Zuma's frustrations, Constitutional Court Justice Chris Jafta has ordered the ex-president to pay the Inquiry's costs.

Earlier, Briefly.co.za reported that former president Jacob Zuma's legal team has told the State Capture Inquiry that he will not be appearing before the commission earlier this year.

The lawyers had insisted that Zuma's appearance can only be forced to appear once his bid for Zondo's recusal has been finalised.

The team further claimed that due to the Inquiry's legal bid at the Constitutional Court to compel him to answer to allegations against him without Zuma being able to invoke his right to remain silent warrants his absence from proceedings.

Eric Mabuza, on Zuma's behalf, told the Inquiry that the summons compelling the ex-president to appear before Zondo 'cannot be legally enforced at this stage'.

This comes after the commission sent Zuma a letter pointing out that, even if the apex court had not ruled on the application, he would still be obliged to comply with the summons due to the fact that it has not been withdrawn, set aside or suspended: