Former President Jacob Zuma has launched a blistering attack on the judge who sent him to jail, accusing her of a personal vendetta.
As he now fights alongside former President Thabo Mbeki to boot her from a new TRC probe, Zuma claims his imprisonment was a “travesty of justice” driven by Justice Sisi Khampepe’s “deep-seated personal hatred” for him.
The scathing accusations form the core of a joint recusal application filed by Zuma, Mbeki, and four former cabinet ministers.
Seeking to remove justice Khampepe
They seek to remove Khampepe as chair of the Judicial Commission of Inquiry into allegations of interference in Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) cases.
Zuma claims her past rulings were vindictive and biased.
“It was self-evident that Justice Khampepe was motivated by deep-seated personal hatred, animosity, and/or anger specifically directed towards me,” Zuma declared in his affidavit.
He escalated his condemnation. And he asserted that the judgments that led to his imprisonment in 2021 for contempt of court were “the worst travesty of justice since the advent of democracy in South Africa”.
Beyond the alleged personal animus, the applicants argue Justice Khampepe is inherently unsuitable due to a material conflict of interest. They cite her previous roles as a member of the TRC Amnesty Committee and as Deputy National Director of Public Prosecutions.
Zuma’s affidavit states: “Her previous occupations as a member of the Amnesty Committee of the TRC and/or the Deputy National Director of the NPA render the Chairperson to be distinctively unsuitable and/or automatically disqualified for her present position.”
Claims of misconduct
The legal team further alleges serious misconduct. They claim Khampepe secretly advised Advocate Ishmael Semenya SC, the Commission’s Chief Evidence Leader, on how to argue a separate recusal application before her.
“This is a case of plain and gross misconduct irrespective of the merit or demerit of the Semenya recusal application,” Zuma said. He added that he would refer the matter to the Judicial Service Commission.
Additional allegations include failing to address Semenya’s alleged improper conduct regarding private arrangements with the victims’ lawyers and claims of detention without trial. Insisting on transparency, Zuma’s lawyers have demanded a public oral hearing for the recusal bid.
“It is our considered view that the application ought to be presented orally and in public in line with previous practice, the Rules, and the principles of openness and transparency,” they wrote to the Commission.
Conflict of interest
The Commission, initially criticised by Zuma for an “unfair and unreasonable” timeline, has scheduled the hearing for January 16, 2026, at the Sci-Bono Discovery Centre in Newtown, Johannesburg.
The JG Zuma Foundation, issuing a media alert, emphasised that the application is not an attempt to obstruct accountability. They argue that a process “compromised by conflicts of interest and procedural impropriety cannot deliver justice” and risks being overturned. It will ultimately harm victims and the public interest.
