Deputy Chief Justice Raymond Zondo. (Netwerk24)
- Zondo commission is preparing to resume its hearing at the end of June or early July.
- Deputy Chief Justice Raymond Zondo says the commission is prepared to finish its work.
- Zondo says as things stand, circumstances don’t permit him to release an interim report.
Chairperson of the commission of inquiry into state capture, Deputy Chief Justice Raymond Zondo, says the commission is preparing to resume its hearings end of June or early July.
Zondo was addressing the media on the work of the commission on Wednesday.
The deputy chief justice said the commission was determined to finish within the time frame given by the court.
“Our focus is at finishing what we call phase 2 of various SOEs and to focus on what I call the Public Protector issues. Already there is a lot of investigation that is underway by investigation team in regard to the Public Protector issues,” he said.
In February this year, the Gauteng High Court in Pretoria granted the Zondo commission its final extension, saying “further extensions would not be warranted”.
The commission had approached the court asking for an extension on its lifespan from March 2020 to December 2020.
The court said the commission would not be prejudiced by the final 13-month extension – from 1 March 2020 to 31 March 2021.
Zondo said the commission is “working flat out to try and finish” its work within its lifespan.
READ: One more year for Zondo commission and no more extensions – High Court
“When I look at the commitment of the commission’s team, I think that is really working hard to try and finish.
“At the same time, I must emphasise that we don’t want a situation where anybody can say in our determination to finish, we left out important things,” he said.
On the issue of growing calls for the commission to release an interim report based on the evidence it has thus far, Zondo said: “Much earlier on if it was possible to do, I was open to that idea [of realising an interim report], so I think as things stand, the circumstances don’t permit.”
The commission has heard allegations from a long list of witnesses since it started on 20 August 2018, and has also cost taxpayers approximately R356m.
