Johannesburg – The United Democratic Movement (UDM) leader, Bantu Holomisa, has written to Parliament’s Speaker Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula over what he says the Zondo Commission had missed, especially regarding the matter of Iqbal Sharma, whom he said was the “real mastermind behind state capture”.
Holomisa in a letter to Mapisa-Nqakula referred to an article written by The Star’s sister publication, the Sunday Independent, in which it was reported that evidence submitted to the Judicial Commission of Inquiry into state capture never made it to the final report.
The article highlighted damning content explaining why Iqbal Sharma, widely regarded as a Gupta lieutenant, never appeared before the state capture commission of inquiry.
According to the report, no findings were made against him either. The Sunday Independent also pointed out that the commission’s lead investigator had received the nearly 1 000-page affidavit with concrete evidence attached. However, none of the Zondo Commission reports covered the document.
The article also said that the document implicates President Cyril Ramaphosa, Thuli Madonsela, Maria Ramos, and Transnet board members from 2006/7, Trevor Manuel, Pravin Gordhan, Gill Marcus, Moira Moses, Mafika Mkhwanazi, the late Don Mkhwanazi, SA Shipyards, Doris Tshepe, Brian Joffe, and the 2006/7 Bidvest board, Sybrand Pretorious, Pradeep Maharaj, and Chris Wells.
“The UDM also submitted evidence of state capture to the Zondo Commission in our 56-page correspondence to the commission on September 23, 2020, titled ‘Submission to the Commission: The Real Mastermind Behind State Capture’ which the commission acknowledged receipt of. As in the above instance and given its report, the commission also did not consider our submission in the end,” the letter said.
Holomisa said that Parliament is yet to consider the Zondo Commission’s report, and that given that some of the documentation and evidence were not considered, although they had been submitted, he called for a retired judge to look at the report.
“It would therefore be advisable that Parliament consider appointing a retired judge to look at all the matters the Zondo Commission did not attend to and check whether there had been a deliberate effort to sabotage the Zondo Commission, with the exclusion of certain documentation or evidence from the commission,” read the letter.
Holomisa said it was unfortunate that Constitutional Court Chief Justice Raymond Zondo, the evidence leader, and President Cyril Ramaphosa were conflicted, and that the matter needed to be handled by new people.
“I would kindly request that you consult with the leader of government business in Parliament on this potentially serious matter,” Holomisa said in his letter.
The Star