JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) – South African President Cyril Ramaphosa will no longer appear for a second round of testimony before a graft inquiry, administrators of the commission into state corruption said on Thursday in brief statement.
Ramaphosa was due to appear before the Judicial Commission of Inquiry into Allegations of State Capture on May 31 and June 1, in his capacity as state president and his tenure as deputy president under Jacob Zuma from 2014 to 2018.
He previously appeared in mid-April as current leader of the African National Congress (ANC) in a rare case of a sitting president giving evidence on recent alleged acts of wrongdoing by members of his own party.
“The Commission wishes to announce that President Ramaphosa’s scheduled appearance dates of – 31 May, and 1 June 2021 has been postponed. The suitable alternative dates for his appearance will be communicated,” the inquiry said.
In his previous appearance before the judicial inquiry, which is due to deliver its final report in the next few months after nearly three years of sittings, Ramaphosa admitted that the ANC could have done more to prevent the corruption that ripped through the country’s institutions over the past decade.
(Reporting by Mfuneko Toyana; Editing by Hugh Lawson)
