In a surprise announcement on Thursday‚ Deputy Chief Justice Raymond Zondo said he would like former president Jacob Zuma to respond to allegations against him stemming from witness testimony at the state capture inquiry.
Zondo said he asked Zuma to put forward his version of events in terms of the evidence presented by former government spokesman Themba Maseko and former ANC MP Vytjie Mentor.
The judge made the announcement a day after Zuma told students at Walter Sisulu University in the Eastern Cape that “there is no state capture in South Africa”.
Zuma’s lawyers had informed the commission last week that he was not applying to cross-examine any witnesses as he believed that none of the evidence presented implicated him.
But Zondo said it was now his “wish” that Zuma responds to the allegations by Mentor and Maseko.
“I have invited the lawyers for the former president and indicated my wish that he could put his version in an affidavit to assist the commission‚” said Zondo.