Frustrated ANC national executive committee member Zizi Kodwa has taken his court battle with retired chief justice Raymond Zondo into the streets, accusing the jurist of dodging real accountability.
Zondo failed to file responding papers almost a year after Kodwa launched a review application early this year against him and the commission to declare his adverse findings against the politician unlawful and set aside.
In his findings, which resulted in Kodwa resigning from his position as minister of sports, arts and culture, Zondo claimed that the R1-million he received from businessman Jehan Mackay of EHO was a kickback to secure tenders for him or his entity.
Despite Kodwa filing papers to challenge Zondo’s findings, which torpedoed his political career and left a smudge on his image, Zondo has not moved a needle to defend himself, prompting Kodwa to launch a vitriolic attack on the legal eagle outside the courtroom.
“Zondo was stage-managed and failed to deal with the real capture of the soul of our constitutional democracy, but rather pursued a political agenda,” Kodwa fired off during an interview with Sunday World this week.
“He refused to listen to the evidence of both Gen [Nhlanhla] Mkhwanazi and Arthur Fraser, who both had requested to make submissions on what the Madlanga commission is now dealing with.”
Kodwa charged that the Zondo commission was a joke, a “kindergarten circus”, especially when compared to the bombshells coming out of the Madlanga commission, which is now looking into alleged corruption and political interference in the criminal justice system.
“The Madlanga commission makes the Zondo commission a real waste of money. The Zondo commission was established to deal with the alleged influence of the Guptas on the executive. Did he achieve that? The answer is he got zero out of 10,” said -Kodwa.
Kodwa insists that Zondo went after the “small fish” like him – just to justify the R1-billion price tag of the commission – while turning a blind eye to mounting evidence of real state capture, as presented by Fraser and Mkhwanazi.
“We now know, on the record, that both Fraser and Mkhwanazi told him about the real capture, which is that of the criminal justice system, which is the soul of our democracy,” Kodwa said.
So why, in Kodwa’s view, did Zondo ignore this evidence?
The answer, he says, is obvious: “It is now becoming apparent why Zondo refused to admit the evidence of Fraser and Mkhwanazi, because the judiciary, which he was an active member of, was implicated.”
Kodwa was relentless. He says Zondo is now “running away” from any review of his findings.
“He is now running away when we want to review his findings and recommendations. But he is not going to get away with it; I am not going to let him off,” Kodwa charged.
“I am considering further legal action against him, even if it’s on Christmas Day. I need a review and setting aside of his ill-advised decision and recommendation against me.”
The Zondo commission found that Kodwa unduly benefited from Mackay, his friend and then EOH executive, and recommended that President Cyril Ramaphosa fire him from the national executive, which he did. Kodwa was forced to resign as sports, arts and culture minister last year.
The NPA eventually charged Kodwa and Mackay with corruption, but the case flopped and the charges were withdrawn.
In his court papers, Kodwa doesn’t mince his words, calling Zondo’s findings and recommendations against him “nonsensical”, “irrational”, “unconstitutional” and “invalid”.
He insists the commission had no business investigating him. “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,” Kodwa wrote in his affidavit.
“This is unconstitutional. The commission was not established to investigate political parties but organs of state.
“The ANC is not an organ of state,” he added. Kodwa, said he was ventilating his frustration because his decision to go to court was all about clearing his name and restoring his reputation. “This review is required to clear my name and put an end to the adverse media reports and public perception of me.”
Zondo could not be reached for comment.
