Ramaphosa to appear before State Capture Commission next week

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa will take the stand at the Zondo commission on August 11 and 12, the inquiry confirmed on Monday.

Ramaphosa was due back the inquiry in May, but his appearance was pushed back due to unforeseen circumstances.

The inquiry said August 11 and 12 were the dates set for the president to first finish his evidence as ANC leader. He will then move on to his role as former deputy president and as the current head of state.

Ramaphosa first appeared in April where he told the inquiry that the state capture matter had divided the ANC.

Ramaphosa said the earliest instance when the party took wind of the state capture phenomena was in 2011 during an ANC NEC meeting.

This is where Fikile Mbalula brought to light that he was told by the Guptas that he would be appointed as a minister.

The president said, at that time, that the issue of whether state capture existed and what it should be termed was widely contested within the ANC and in broader society.

Ramaphosa further said that as other allegations involving the Gupta family surfaced about their involvement in the appointment of government officials, the discussion around state capture dominated ANC NEC meetings.

“The issue of state capture was hugely contested in the ANC and what should be done contributed to divisions in ANC structures including the NEC, government, Parliament, and other areas of society,” he said.

He said the corruption issue plagued the party resulting in divisions of vote-buying, gatekeeping and open conflict between factions of the party.

And concerns about corruption grew ahead of the party’s 54th ANC conference in December 2017.