The North Gauteng High Court will not issue an order forcing President Jacob Zuma to immediately implement the remedial action contained in the State of Capture report, released in October 2016 by former public protector Thuli Madonsela.
Zuma filed an application opposing the implementation of the recommendations and asking for a judicial review of the report. The DA then approached the court to force Zuma to implement the remedial action, specifically to establish a commission of inquiry.
Judgment in the latter application was handed down in court today. Judge Motsamai Makume said that it would not be in the interests of justice for him to order Zuma to immediately act on the report, as Zuma should have the opportunity to argue his case in court first.
In addition, if Zuma’s review succeeds, the commission would constitute a waste of state resources as it would have been formed in vain and at great cost, said Makume.
Instead, the court granted Zuma a stay, pending a judicial review of the report. Makume said that Zuma had raised “pertinent and constitutional issues” in his application for a review. One of these issues concerned the separation of powers, with the Zuma team arguing that the Public Protector does not have the constitutional power to order a commission of inquiry. This will be probed in the review, which has been set down for 23 and 24 October. The matter is therefore on hold until then.
The DA and the Public Protector were ordered to pay the costs of the application.
