Former South African President Jacob Zuma (C) leaves the Commission of Inquiry into State Capture in Johannesburg during a break on November 16, 2020. - After repeatedly refusing to appear, Zuma requested that the head of a commission investigating rampant state corruption during his nine-year reign recuse himself. (Photo by Guillem Sartorio / AFP) (Photo by GUILLEM SARTORIO/AFP via Getty Images)
Former South African President Jacob Zuma said he will flout an order by the nation’s top court by refusing to cooperate with a judicial panel that’s probing graft during his rule, and dared the authorities to arrest him.
“The Commission Into Allegations of State Capture can expect no further cooperation from me in any of their processes,” Zuma said in a statement on Monday. “If this stance is considered to be a violation of their law, then let their law take its course. I do not fear being arrested, I do not fear being convicted nor do I fear being incarcerated.”
The Constitutional Court ruled on Jan. 28 that the 78-year-old Zuma must testify before the panel headed by Deputy Chief Justice Raymond Zondo. Zuma said he’d had a close personal relationship with Zondo and unsuccessfully sought his recusal on the grounds that he was biased.
The government has estimated more than 500 billion rand ($33 billion) was stolen from state coffers during Zuma’s nine-year rule, and dozens of witnesses who’ve appeared before Zondo have implicated the ex-president in aiding and abetting the looting spree. Zuma, who the ruling party forced to quit in 2018 to stem a loss of electoral support, has denied wrongdoing and says the allegations against him are part of a smear campaign.
“It is clear that the laws of this country are politicized even at the highest court in the land,” Zuma said in his six-page statement. “It is also patently clear to me that I am being singled out for different and special treatment by the judiciary and the legal system as a whole.”
Zuma also complained that his family members and friends had been unfairly targeted and had their bank accounts closed merely because they were associated with him, and said the authorities’ inaction left him no alternative but to be defiant against injustice.
Zondo had asked the apex court to compel Zuma to testify after he walked out of a panel hearing in November and refused to answer questions. A summons has been issued for the ex-president to appear again later this month and his failure to do so could see a warrant issued for his arrest.
Zuma’s legal travails aren’t confined to his wrangling with the commission — he’s also due to appear in court on Feb. 23 to face charges that he took bribes from arms dealers in the 1990s.
