DA leader Mmusi Maimane will on Tuesday lay criminal charges against President Jacob Zuma for refusing to answer questions about the “State of Capture” report.
In parliamentary replies released on Monday, Zuma gave a standard answer to 10 different questions from opposition MPs regarding his relationship with the Gupta family, Maimane said.
In addition, Zuma had refused to give former Public Protector Thuli Madonsela any answers during her investigation into the matter.
Zuma said the questions formed part of the subject matter of Madonsela’s report into state capture and he was still studying its contents.
While Madonsela’s report did not directly implicate Zuma in any wrongdoing, it indicated that his friends, the Gupta family, may have had a hand in making Cabinet appointments. She recommended that Zuma set up a judicial commission of inquiry to investigate the allegations.
Maimane will lay the charges against Zuma in terms of the Prevention and Combating of Corrupt Activities Act, which compels people who suspect an offence to report it to the police to investigate.
Maimane’s spokesperson Mabine Seabe said the Public Protector’s State of Capture report points to a prima facia case that must be investigated.
“In terms of this Act, there is a duty on persons in position of authority who know or ought reasonably to have known or suspected that any other person has committed an offence under the Act to report such knowledge or suspicion to the police. The Act also requires only evidence of suspicion for charges to be laid. It is the police’s responsibility to investigate these allegations,” Seabe said.
“The DA will unravel Jacob Zuma’s criminal network by using all political, legal and parliamentary channels. President Zuma and his cabal must be held responsible for undermining the integrity of the State, through his illegal programme of state capture.”