From possessing ‘secret’ emails allegedly sent from the private address of retired judge Sisi Khampepe, to hush-hush talks with apartheid-era generals, Jacob Zuma’s shadow looms large over the Khampepe Inquiry. It appears that retired Constitutional Court Judge Sisi Khampepe, who chairs the groundbreaking inquiry into possible political interference in the stalling of apartheid-era prosecutions, might be under illegal surveillance. How else to explain former president Jacob Zuma’s possession of private emails as well as WhatsApps, which he claims were sent from Khampepe to evidence leader, advocate Ishmael Semenya, supposedly offering advice to be passed on to advocate Vas Soni, who dealt with an earlier application by Zuma for Semenya’s recusal?
While Zuma claims the email was dated 5 November, the application for Semenya’s recusal took place only on 12 November, which would render the former president and leader of the uMkhonto weSizwe party a time traveller with incredible foresight. Meanwhile, Zuma, in a gesture of Trumpian legal logic, has chosen to “withhold” this vital evidence from the inquiry “for now”. Advocate Dali Mpofu, representing Zuma in his application for Khampepe’s recusal, said this email would be provided “at some future point, to protect ongoing investigations and once safeguards have been guaranteed”.
However, advocate Howard Varney, on behalf of the victims, noted that Zuma’s “possession and securing of the alleged communication may very well have been illegal”. He said Zuma had not explained how he had obtained the alleged email. He referred to relevant legislation in South Africa, the Regulation of Interception of Communications Act (RIC, which prohibits the monitoring of communications without consent or legal authorisation, with strict rules for law enforcement).
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A landmark ruling was handed down by the Constitutional Court in February 2021 after investigative unitAmaBhunganelaunched a high court challenge in 2017, when it was discovered that calls between managing partner Sam Sole and Billy Downer, the prosecutor in the Arms Deal investigation into Zuma, had been intercepted. Semenya argued that no secret communications had taken place and that any that had occurred had been “proper and necessary to assist the commission in establishing evidence and making factual findings”. On Friday, Khampepe reserved judgment in Zuma and former president Thabo Mbeki’s application for her recusal. She sits alongside commissioners, Judge Frans Kgomo and human rights advocate Andrea Gabriel.
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