Zondo blames Parliament, ANC for continuation of state capture

Reading Time: 2 minutes

Chief Justice Raymond Zondo has blamed both Parliament and the ANC in the National Assembly for the continuation of state capture in the country.

He says the majority party does not allow its members to support a vote of no confidence in its current and previous presidents.

Zondo was speaking in a discussion that the Institute for African Alternatives hosted in Cape Town yesterday.

“Parliament had the opportunity and the power to stop state capture. Because if it had allowed the motions for the establishment of public inquiries, [and] parliamentary inquiries on all probabilities, state capture could have been stopped because of what would have been revealed.”

“But the fact of the matter [is] the majority party took the position that it is entitled to instruct its members not to vote with the opposition or not to support the motions from the opposition parties on those matters, including the motions of no confidence in the presidencies,” adds Zondo.

Meanwhile, the institute’s acting director, Professor Ari Sitas, says a lot of people are anxiously waiting for the implementation of the recommendations of the Commission of Inquiry into State Capture.

“I think there has been a lack. I think there have been delays and those will have to be explained. We have to understand why there have been delays. There was a promise that they would be addressed and a lot of them are still waiting. So the public is restless about this issue.”

“And of course it is compounded, there is going to be an election next and everybody is going to be shouting at each other. So, let’s look at it realistically, analytically and pass the judgment in the near future,” says Sitas.

VIDEO | IFAA Colloquium: Chief Justice Raymond Zondo speaks on the role of Parliament

Meanwhile, former President Kgalema Motlanthe says members of political parties that are represented in Parliament need to understand the importance of the country’s Constitution.

Motlanthe who is also the institute’s board chairperson says members of political parties are stuck between respecting the Constitution of their party and that of the country.

VIDEO: Motlanthe addresses the Institute for African Alternatives gathering: