[imagesource: Felix Dlangamandla]

From day one of the Judicial Commission of Inquiry into Allegations of State Capture, or the Zondo commission as it’s more commonly known, Jacob Zuma’s constant refrain has been one of victimhood.

Some of his greatest hits thus far include testimony claiming that there was a foreign-backed conspiracy against him, and that some of those testifying against him were apartheid-era spies.

He accused the commission of being a tool to end his political career, whined that he was being treated unfairly, and then decided to withhold his cooperation entirely.

He quickly changed his mind.

Most recently, he filed an application for the recusal of the chairperson, deputy chief justice Raymond Zondo, saying that the chairperson had been dishonest about his three-decades-long close personal friendship with the former president.

This came after Zondo issued a summons for Zuma to present himself at the commission from Monday until Friday this week.

The recusal was dismissed this morning, with Zondo denying Zuma’s claims, reports News24.

“In light of the fact that the applicant does not dispute most of the facts set out in [a paragraph in Zondo’s statement] I am of the opinion that on the undisputed facts, there was not the kind of relationship between myself and the applicant that would disqualify me from chairing this commission, nor is it a proper ground for me to recuse myself,” he said

He also pointed out that Zuma should have raised these concerns with Chief Justice Mogoeng who appointed him to the position.

After the ruling, advocate Paul Pretorius, head of the commission’s legal team, said that now that all of that was out of the way, Zuma would have to answer questions.

Zuma clearly couldn’t handle the heat, because he up and left without asking permission.

Per TimesLIVE:

“Mr Zuma has left, I have been told. Mr Zuma had been issued with summons to be here from Monday until tomorrow unless he was excused by me,” said Zondo.

“On Tuesday his lawyers asked me to excuse him for yesterday to attend a funeral, I excused him from attending the proceedings [for that day].”

“He has left today without asking me to be excused. This is a serious matter.”

Here’s his advocate, Muzi Sikhakhane, desperately trying to come up with a reason for the swift exit:

The DCJ Zondo says President Zuma left without telling him. Advocate Muzi Sikhakhane SC did say…….🤷🤷🤔#ZondoCommission pic.twitter.com/7n9lceIdAz

— Will i am✊👊🇿🇦 (@IamWilliam_M) November 19, 2020

He says that they will be challenging the dismissal of the application for Zondo’s recusal in court, and will be filing a complaint against him at the Judicial Service Commission.

Then he asked to be excused from the proceedings.

You’ve got to hand it to Zuma and his legal team  – their creativity is boundless when it comes to evading the stand.

[source:news24&timeslive]