MAKHUDU SEFARA | Would making Zondo CJ come across as a reward for handling JZ?

Leading an important commission of inquiry such as the state capture leaves you susceptible to carping criticism and attacks by corrupt politicians and their acolytes. It’s a thankless job.

But, importantly, those to whom the final report must be delivered and with whom you share the same passion to fight corruption, are left a little unsure how to praise and reward you.

For, praising you might seem as if you’re being encouraged to “finish off” the enemy. Promoting you might seem like sophisticated “you-scratch-my-back” type of corruption.

This is the unenviable position deputy chief justice Raymond Zondo finds himself in now. Zondo, by no means perfect, has been attacked and vilified by many who faced serious allegations before him. This surprises no one and Zondo, the thick-skinned jurist he is, probably expected it. 

Now that the commission is, for all intents and purposes, over, and a process to appoint the country’s top judge is under way, his participation in the commission creates a puzzle for the appointing authority, President Cyril Ramaphosa. 

For Zondo, with many years of experience as deputy to Mogoeng Mogoeng, the outgoing chief justice, the issues must be simple: he has been a dutiful deputy and has served the country well in various courts. There can be no question about his jurisprudence and, in any case, why should he be disadvantaged for agreeing to help the country make sense of state capture, one of the biggest tests faced by postapartheid SA? 

Further, if he can’t be promoted by the Ramaphosa administration, who will? He must also be wondering: Is this the same sidelining we saw with deputy chief justice Dikgang Moseneke by former president Jacob Zuma being visited upon him by Ramaphosa?

The main issue is whether, after giving politicians opposed to Ramaphosa a tough time at the commission, would elevating Zondo come across as a reward for carrying out a factional ANC agenda?

But, for Ramaphosa, appointing Zondo requires careful consideration of a number of issues with public perception implications. The main issue is whether, after giving politicians opposed to Ramaphosa a tough time at the commission, as was necessary, would elevating him come across as reward for carrying out a factional ANC agenda? Already, those considered sympathetic to state capture figurehead Jacob Zuma feel the commission’s inquiry into the nine wasted years was neither even-handed nor honest.

Zuma too protested, but ended up in jail because his advisers misread the law and thought he would be fined but not incarcerated. This is why they, and Zuma, consistently talk about his “imprisonment without trial”. But Zuma made a mockery of the rule of law and deserved his time in jail. Yes, it may have been brief and he may have been released in circumstances that were dubious, but it was important that he spent nights locked up. It sent the right messages across our land. This has also caused mini-strokes to those who support him, wondering when their turn will come. This is why the idea of Zondo as chief justice is traumatising to them. 

That said, I do feel pity for Arthur Fraser, the former chief spy about whom serious allegations were made but from whom we have heard nothing, except his letter requesting several top secret documents to help him prepare his statements for Zondo. He is one of a few people Zondo should have heard. 

But moving right along, if Ramaphosa appoints Zondo, the appointment will be tainted. Zuma’s supporters, and they remain significant, will call it reward for persecuting uBaba. They will go back to how Zondo treated Ramaphosa at the commission to make the point that CR was spared serious questioning, because Zondo could not piss off someone from whom he needed promotion in a few months. It now makes sense, they will say. They will say it was never about justice but JZ.

Is that the sort of PR Ramaphosa needs to be dealing with as he seeks ANC re-election next year December? The optics don’t favour Zondo. Politics trumps everything.

In any case, while Zondo is a great jurist, he seems, at a distance at least, a terrible manager. That’s a gift to those hoping to help Ramaphosa avoid the PR nightmare. They will say Zondo allowed the commission deadline to be postponed five times. His excuse? “I need to point out that the amount of work involved under the different topics or workstreams is not the same,” he says. But who said it’s the same? He continues: “The work involves the preparation of summaries and analysis of evidence led over three years, in which more than 330 witnesses testified,” notes Zondo. Yes, and? These numbers can’t be a surprise to him — the witnesses appeared before him. The deadline for the commission didn’t arrive in the middle of his commission — he knew it at the beginning. But, anyway, let’s not kick a deputy chief justice, even when we can see he is being kicked to the curb by an administration set not to appoint him.

Ramaphosa’s possible way out of appointing Zondo?

The president has chosen a populist approach to appointing the chief justice, which process involves members of the public making nominations of their preferred candidates. This has led to people such as public protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane and Western Cape judge president John Hlophe being nominated in what must be described as a farcical process. We all know the two won’t make it. As they should not. So why waste everybody’s time? 

What this process allows Ramaphosa, or those close to him, to do is manufacture a clamour for a female chief justice. That’s his possible way out of the imbroglio. If he chooses this path, it’ll be a sad day. Nothing stops us from appointing a woman deputy chief justice to Zondo. 

We should be able to appoint good people, even if their appointments generate issues inconvenient for political programmes. Zondo may not be perfect, but he has served the country with distinction. The courage to do right by Zondo is what leadership is made of. A leadership that is authentic. Will Ramaphosa step up to the plate, or will he choose a convenient way out? We are about to find out.