Double check: Acting Chief Justice Raymond Zondo wants two versions of the final report on state capture, a shorter one for the public and a more detailed version for court cases. Photo: Phill Magakoe/AFP/Getty Images
As the Zondo commission scrambles to deliver its findings to President Cyril Ramaphosa by month’s end, an agreement has been reached with the Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC) for a shorter, reader-friendly summary of its voluminous final report.
The summarised report will be made available to the public and the commission intends that the full report will be used during possible legal reviews by those it names and shames.
Acting Chief Justice Raymond Zondo has sought not only to get to the bottom of the grand corruption that allegedly saw R57-billion flow to the Gupta brothers and their business entities, but to fault lines in state-owned entities, the ruling party and the political system that enabled state capture.
He is expected to name suspects against whom the commission established a prima facie case and recommend that the criminal justice system take further steps against them.
The full report is expected to come with a wealth of annexures detailing evidence against those implicated. It is widely expected that many of them will rush to court to take the findings on legal review.
The commission’s lawyers are understood to have been working in close concert with the HSRC.
The HSRC is expected to complete the condensed version of the report for public consumption by 15 December.
In minutes to a virtual meeting between Zondo and the HSRC’s team leader, Professor Narnia Bohler-Muller, the commission chair suggested that they needed the HSRC to condense the report in the eventuality of legal challenges.
“There is no shortage of people wanting to take the report and its findings on legal review. The more detailed document with the full reasoning can be kept separate and out before the courts should it become necessary. This would give comfort in that in the preparation, the condensed report, the initial reasons for the findings are [not] lost,” Zondo said during the meeting.
Bohler-Muller said the two pronged approach would be “sufficient”, because both documents would be available for specific purposes.
It is reliably understood that the full report would still be readily available to all.
Zondo has conceded to the HSRC that the commission “should not have started hearings before an investigation”, adding that the commission bowed to public pressure.
“This affected how processes and witnesses were heard. [The] commission has been criticised that this was not systematic but it was necessary as there was no luxury of time and progress could not wait upon all witnesses being ready,” he said.
The HSRC is tasked with checking information, reviewing the use of language, ensuring clarity and providing an executive summary of the final document.
This, Zondo indicates, is his concern over the complexity of the legal language and its length.
“It may be that because of their legal background the message contained in the report may be lost due to the complexity of language and thus not user friendly, especially for the public,” Zondo said in the meeting.
The HSRC has formed a team of eight with expertise in law, health economics and sociology. They include Professor Charles Hongoro, Dr Benjamin Roberts, advocate Gary Pienaar, Dr Yul Derek, Dr Mokhantso Makoae and Greg Houston.
The HSRC team will sign an oath and get security clearance to prevent leaks. The research council will also use its own internal system to track those with access to the documents.
In the meeting, Zondo said that those drafting the report, which would be handed over to the HSRC to summarise, should make clear findings and recommendations “as if they were part of the commission itself”.
Zondo would then consider these individually and accept, reject or propose amendments. He said the process of drafting final reports was interactive to ensure he was happy with findings and recommendations.
The commission has broken down its work streams into six parts. These include Eskom, Transnet, the SABC, Denel, aviation and others.
He noted that while other commissions focused on specific areas, with reports varying in length from 300 to 1 000 pages, the commission on state capture had a much wider focus.
At the time of the meeting, Zondo said those drafting the report had already provided 5 000 pages with varying volumes depending on the work streams.
Zondo committed to providing the HSRC with parts of the document immediately.
The commission would retain the original documents to compare with the ones submitted by the HSRC, after their revision, he said.
“Not every revised document will be accepted as is and not every proposed change will be accepted and make it into the final report. Drafters should not feel dejected should this happen, despite the time and effort spent on the drafting process,” he told the HSRC team.
Officials and lawyers told the Mail & Guardian it was not unusual for investigation or inquiry leaders to enlist support in writing their reports.
“As long as his name is on it, as long as he is on top of it, which undoubtedly he is, the fact that he gets other people in to help him sift through it and assimilate it and write it, is absolutely fine. It is delegated authority,” one lawyer said.
Addressing a post-cabinet media briefing on Thursday, the minister in the presidency, Mondli Gungubele, said the commission’s final report was due to be handed over to Ramaphosa by 1 January next year.
The commission has gone into overtime after years of public hearings, and is currently on its fifth and final extension.
The commission has cost more than R1-billion, government sources said this week.
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