President Cyril Ramaphosa. File Picture: Phando Jikelo/ Independent Newspapers
President Cyril Ramaphosa calls on South Africans to come together and carry on Chief Justice Raymond Zondo’s enormous legacy, saying, “Zondo can retire from office knowing that he has done his country an invaluable service.”
Last week Wednesday, the Constitutional Court held a special sitting to pay tribute to the outgoing Zondo ahead of his retirement from the court.
Zondo is expected to leave the bench at the end of August following 27 years of service to the judiciary.
“It is now our responsibility as a society to work together to give effect to his legacy and to build a fairer, just and ethical nation,” Ramaphosa said.
Writing in his weekly online newsletter on Monday, Ramaphosa said Zondo’s most prominent and outstanding contribution was as the chairperson of the judicial commission established to investigate allegations of state capture and other corruption – the Zondo Commission.
“Through the work of the commission, which Judge Zondo led with diligence and integrity, the country came to understand what happened during the era of state capture.
“There were revelations on who was involved. We saw what effect state capture had on our state, economy, and society,” Ramaphosa said.
According to the president, the commission conducted more than 400 days of hearings, over 300 witnesses, and produced more than 1.7 million pages of documentary evidence.
He has said that the reports of the commission contains findings and recommendations that will help define the course of public affairs in South Africa for many years to come.
Ramaphosa has said Zondo has established standards of ethical conduct, accountability, and transparency that enabled them to build a better society.
Furthermore, he said the government has been hard at work to implement its recommendations. This is preventing, detecting, and acting against corruption.
“Not only have we worked to hold those responsible for state capture to account and to recover stolen funds, but we have also put in place laws, institutions, and practices to ensure that state capture never happens again,” he said.
He maintains that work is under way to ensure that corruption becomes a thing of the past.
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