Solidarity: Suspend Zuma during ‘state capture’ inquiry

The trade union filed a petition at Parliament on Friday and delivered letters to the Cabinet and the office of the speaker setting out the grounds for this request.

The normal procedure in a labour context, in circumstances such as this, would be to suspend an employee pending the finalisation of an investigation, Solidarity chief executive Dirk Hermann said on Sunday.

“The purpose of such a suspension would be to prevent an employee from interfering in an investigation or from intimidating and influencing witnesses. Given the position of power President [Jacob] Zuma has, he should also be placed in a position where he cannot interfere with or influence the investigation of the commission of inquiry,” he said.

Unfortunately, neither the Constitution nor the rules of Parliament made provision for the suspension of a president. “The Constitution does make provision for the appointment of an acting president when the president is unable to fulfil his duties as president. The current situation President Zuma finds himself in by definition renders him unable to fulfil his duties. He is entangled in a web of corruption and deceit and only has one aim and that is his own political survival and evasion of prosecution. He has been compromised for a long time and can no longer uphold the Constitution,” Hermann said.

It thus fell to the Cabinet to appoint an acting president when the president was unable to appoint such. “Because of the web of corruption that President Zuma is caught in, he is simply unable to step down or appoint an acting president because of the persons and powers involved. Cabinet must simply realise this, act in accordance with the Constitution, and appoint an acting president until the commission of inquiry has fulfilled its mandate,” Hermann said.