DA to Lay Criminal Charges of Perjury Against Zuma. No Typos!
The Democratic Alliance (DA) says it welcomes today’s ground-breaking judgment by the North Gauteng High Court, dismissing President Zuma’s attempt to review the Public Protector’s State of Capture report, and its binding recommendations. “This means that the report stands, and confirms that the President must at once establish a Judicial Commission of Inquiry into “State […]
The Democratic Alliance (DA) says it welcomes today’s ground-breaking judgment by the North Gauteng High Court, dismissing President Zuma’s attempt to review the Public Protector’s State of Capture report, and its binding recommendations.
“This means that the report stands, and confirms that the President must at once establish a Judicial Commission of Inquiry into “State Capture” – as ordered to by the Public Protector. The commission must be headed by a judge selected by Chief Justice Mogoeng Mogoeng, established within 30 days, and has 180 days to complete its work,” said DA Leader Mmusi Maimane.
Maimane said that the Court chose not to make any findings on whether perjury had been committed, as this was not their task on the day, but they ruled out the possibility of any typing errors, which might have excused the President’s inconsistencies.
“Therefore the DA will be laying criminal charges of perjury against President Jacob Zuma tomorrow for his sinister attempt to mislead the courts, abuse judicial process, and ultimately undermine the law and the constitution of the republic,” said Maimane.
“Zuma’s insinuation that this act of perjury was a “typo” is an insult to the courts, and to the people of South Africa.”
The Court made several other substantial findings on Wednesday, including that the President’s conduct in trying to block the release of the Public Protector’s State of Capture Report was an “abuse of judicial process” and an attempt to “stymie the fulfilment of a constitutional obligation by the Office of the Public Protector”.
As such, the Court ordered Zuma to personally pay the legal costs of his failed attempt to interdict the release of the State of Capture report in October 2016 – an historic move by the court. Zuma must also personally pay the costs of the review proceedings, which could total anywhere between R4 million and R6 million.
Maimane joked that perhaps Zuma should ask the Gupta Family to loan him the money.
The Court also noted today that President Zuma’s continued litigation in this matter was “unreasonable” and that various statements made resulted in an “irreconcilable contradiction”.