The North Gauteng High Court is on Tuesday expected to hear an application for an extension of the state capture inquiry, after the commission said it would need until February to complete its highly-anticipated report.
The commission had previously indicated it would complete its report and deliver it to President Cyril Ramaphosa before the end of this month. However, in a statement issued on behalf of the commission, chairperson Acting Chief Justice Raymond Zondo said it was recently realised this could not be fully achieved.
The report will now be handed over to Ramaphosa in a series of three parts.
“My team and I have worked very hard over the past months with a view to achieving that goal. In this regard, a lot of progress has been made.
"Nevertheless, our recent assessment of the work has revealed that, while parts of the report relating to certain work streams or state-owned entities and topics will be ready before the end of December, there are some parts that relate to other work streams or topics that will still need further work, beyond the end of December, if the commission is not to compromise the quality of the report.
"The commission believes that it should not compromise the quality of the report,” Zondo said in the statement.
In the light of this, the commission said it planned to divide its report into three parts.
Part I and Part II will constitute the first and second interim reports of the commission, and Part III will be the commission’s final report.
Zondo said that it will be possible to deliver Part I of the report to the President before the end of December; Part II before the end of January, 2022; and, Part III before the end of February, 2022.
“Last week, I discussed the matter with the President. Although the President would have liked to receive a complete report by the end of December, he understands the commission’s position,” he said.
Given the need to divide the report into three parts until February, the commission has prepared an application to the High Court in Pretoria for an extension of its term by a further two months, to enable the commission to deliver its second interim report in January, and its final report in February, 2022.
“The secretary of the commission assures me that the existing budget allocation for the commission will be adequate to cover any fees that may relate to the commission’s legal and investigations teams up to the end of February, 2022, and that it will not be necessary for the commission to ask for further funding in regard to such fees,” Zondo added.
kailene.pillay@inl.co.za
Political Bureau