Africa-Press – South-Africa. The much-anticipated final report on the State Capture Inquiry will be handed over to President Cyril Ramaphosa on Wednesday, in Cape Town.
Ramaphosa’s spokesperson Vincent Magwenya had earlier said the president discussed, “… the timing of the handing over of the final Commission report”, with Chief Justice Raymond Zondo earlier on Monday morning.
He said a new date for the handover would be announced soon.
However, in a subsequent statement on Monday, the inquiry confirmed the report would be handed over on Wednesday.
It said due to, “… challenges processing Part V and VI of the Report on time for the handover to the President by 18:00 today, 20th June 2022, it has been agreed to move the event to Wednesday, 22 June 2022 the original handover date in Cape Town”.
The final report was about 1 824 pages long, with seven volumes.
Zondo Commission granted another extension to finalise outstanding reports
“In the interest of quality and reduction of unavoidable errors and as a result of calendar logistical problems, it has become necessary to allow for a responsible and proper completion of the conclusion of the report.
“The commission apologises to the public and all concerned for this further delay. The patience and support of the public is highly appreciated.”
Ramaphosa is yet to receive the report.
News24 reported that the commission had failed to meet the 15 June deadline for it to submit the final volumes of its report to Ramaphosa.
It had also said it would submit the electronic version of the report to Ramaphosa on Sunday evening and that the handover ceremony would take place on Monday, 20 June 2022 at the Union Buildings in Pretoria at 18:00.
However, that has now changed.
The DA said the delay in the release of the final report as a result of Ramaphosa and Zondo’s meeting to discuss the timing of the handover, was, “… wrong and deeply unethical”.
DA leader John Steenhuisen said:
“It is unheard of for any individual, who is the subject of an investigation being conducted by the State’s law enforcement and judiciary, to be able to manipulate the content of an investigative report or the timing of its release.
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“It is astounding that the President sees nothing wrong in attending this meeting. The delay of the court-mandated deadline for the release of the final Zondo Report, seemingly at the hand of the President, should set alarm bells ringing.
Steenhuisen continued:
He called on both the President and Zondo to urgently issue statements explaining the nature of their meeting.
He also wanted to know who initiated it, and why it was permitted to go ahead, “… given the evident conflict this presents with the principles of independence and justice”.
Part five of the report includes investigations into the SABC, the State Security Agency, Estina Dairy Farm, the Waterkloof landing by associates of the Gupta family, and the Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa.
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