ANC national executive committee (NEC) member and former minister Zizi Kodwa has approached the Pretoria High Court to review and set aside the adverse findings and recommendations against him by the Zondo commission of inquiry.
In an explosive affidavit filed in court this week, Kodwa believes his problems emanated from Justice Raymond Zondo’s negative findings, which inculpated him and led to his indictment.
Kodwa was criminally charged by the police and later arraigned by the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA). This after allegations that Kodwa, who was the spoke person for the ANC at the time, received close to R1-million in kickbacks from the then EOH
executive Jehan Mackay.
Although Kodwa argued that the funds were a loan and not for greasing his palm, as he had no influence on government tenders at the time, he was nonetheless charged with corruption.
But the charges against him were withdrawn when he appeared in the Palm Ridge Specialised Commercial Crimes Court in Gauteng last year.
After being charged, Kodwa, a former sports minister, was forced to step aside as a member of the ANC NEC and also resigned from his cushy job, losing his source of income.
In the court papers, which we have seen, Kodwa stated that Zondo’s findings and recommendations against him should be reviewed and set aside because they triggered his indictment.
The former ANC spokesperson has pointed an accusing finger at Zondo in the papers, saying it was his “irrational and unconstitutional” findings and recommendations that prejudiced him. Kodwa argues that Zondo in fact was not authorised to investigate the alleged actions of private individuals because the terms of reference of the commission were confined to functionaries of the state and its organs.
And the “speculative” finding that Kodwa was beholden to Mackay while he was nowhere close to the state as national spokesperson of the ANC was irrational, Kodwa charges.
Kodwa believes Zondo grossly conflated the party and the state in his case, which should invalidate the findings.
Zondo found that Kodwa was beholden to Mackay and instructed President Cyril Ramaphosa to “consider” the position of the politician, who at the time was deputy minister of state security.
Kodwa argues that both the findings and the recommendation were not only irrational and unconstitutional but also invalid as the commission exceeded its mandate and powers.
“Accordingly, the commission lacked jurisdiction as a matter of law to investigate me, and whether I influenced the awarding of tenders, let alone make the impugned recommendations.
“This is unconstitutional. The commission was not established to investigate political parties but organs of state. The ANC is not an organ of state.”
Kodwa said it was disturbing that Zondo made the finding that he was beholden to Mackay when in the same report he admits that he did nothing improper for the benefit of EOH.
He goes on to say Zondo totally lost the plot by suggesting that a private citizen cannot ask for a loan from someone doing business with the state when the recipient of the loan is not in any way linked to the state. If this is left unchallenged, Kodwa goes on, it tramples on his right to freedom and dignity.
Kodwa believes Zondo was out of line to insinuate that Ramaphosa fires him because he is “beholden” to Mackay, who might be the subject of a criminal investigation.
Kodwa pleads for condonation for filing the review application late, stating there were many events that led to this, including NPA charging him.
He states that it is paramount that he be heard because the events that followed Zondo’s recommendation branded him as corrupt, leaving him unemployed, unemployable and “red-flagging” his good name without basis.
“The primary relief here is a declaratory order. Even if there is a delay, it is part of the rule of law that where there is unconstitutional conduct such as exhibited by Justice Zondo, the declaratory order should be granted.
“This review is required to clear my name and put an end to the adverse media reports and public perception of me,” Kodwa said.
