Johannesburg - This is the question on everyone’s lips after President Cyril Ramaphosa on Monday accused the Section 89 panel of misunderstanding its mandate when considering the Phala Phala farm saga.
Ramaphosa decided to take the report that found he may have violated the Constitution on review to the Constitutional Court, calling for the apex court to set the report aside.
In light of all of this, calls are growing for Chief Justice Raymond Zondo to recuse himself after Ramaphosa approached the highest court in the land to set aside and review the recent Section 89 independent panel report.
Some members of the ANC, including Tony Yengeni, have called Zondo a biassed chief justice, whose bias has in the past shown itself in some of his public and private statements.
During the state capture hearings, Zondo is reported to have said Ramaphosa saved the national treasury, adding that if Ramaphosa had not been elected president in 2017, more damage would have been done to the country’s fiscus.
Others have cited the fact that Zondo was given the position of chief justice in spite of the JSC having not recommended him for the position early this year as a sign that Zondo would lack the objectivity required to impartially review Ramaphosa’s recent Section 89 report.
"Zondo should recuse himself from that review case in the Constitutional Court because of the statement he made that Cyril Ramaphosa saved South Africa ... openly professing his biassed love for Cyril Ramaphosa," said Yengeni.
Suspended member of the ANC, Carl Niehaus, who has been critical of both Ramaphosa and Zondo, said the chief justice is a conflicted man who should not be allowed anywhere near the review application of the Section 89 panel filed by the president on Monday.
"Chief Justice Raymond Zondo is definitely conflicted. It was extraordinary that he had written an interim report for the commission on state capture, saying that Cyril Ramaphosa was the saviour of South Africa and that he was saving the country from corruption and malfeasance.
"At the time when evidence was led by several people who appeared in front of the state capture commission, including Brian Molefe, Ramaphosa‘s own corruption and maladministration with regard to Glencore.
"We must not forget that Zondo had been appointed by Cyril Ramaphosa as chief justice when he was the worst candidate for the position," he said.
However, political analyst Mzoxolo Mpolase told The Star that even though the chief justice appears conflicted due to his previous comments and his appointment by the president, this did not preclude him from taking part in the president’s review application.
"That which Zuma has been accused of, the president has become. Like many others before him, he too, is using the courts to challenge and appeal decisions made against him through the courts.
"However, the issue of a conflict of interest on the part of the chief justice is neither here nor there, as long as the chief justice’s political views will not be in breach of his oath of office and the ability to be impartial," Mpolase said.
ATM spokesperson Zama Ntshona said Zondo’s appointment to the position of chief justice is a matter that still needs to be looked at.
"I agree with the sentiments shared that, on the basis that he was not recommended for the position he occupies at the JSC, his appointment is a matter that still needs to be looked at," he said.
In the meantime, the party has indicated that it has consulted its legal team and instructed it to file an opposing affidavit to Ramaphosa’s bid to have the constitutional court declare the report of the panel invalid.
"The African Transformation Movement (ATM) has consulted its legal team and has instructed it to file an opposing affidavit to Mr Cyril Ramaphosa's bid to have the constitutional court declare the report of the Section 89 Independent Panel invalid," Ntshona said.
"It is our view, as the ATM, that Mr Ramaphosa is clearly revealing to this country his true character of being a dishonest president who is only interested in saving himself and not the country," the party said.
It is not clear if the chief justice would consider recusing himself should political parties opposed to his participation in the president’s application pressure him to do so, after he refused to recuse himself after former president Jacob Zuma requested him to do so due to their friendship during the commission into allegations of state capture, which he chaired for over four years.
Attempts to get a response from the chief justice’s office were not successful at the time of going to print.
The Star