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Zuma claims Judge Zondo is presiding over a "political project".
Former president Jacob Zuma has accused the State Capture Inquiry of failing to investigate his claims that foreign and apartheid spies have been trying to kill him. This failure, he says, confirms his suspicion that Judge Zondo is biased against him, notes legal writer Karyn Maughan in a News24 report.
"If the chairperson had bothered to investigate my claims, he would have found that he had been selected and appointed by the Chief Justice to preside over a political project," Zuma states in a 530-page challenge to Zondo's refusal to recuse himself. Zuma says that he believes this political project is "being executed through the commission".
In November, Zuma tried and failed to persuade Zondo to recuse himself after claiming that the inquiry had carefully selected its witnesses from people who were not happy with his decisions to fire them or were determined to badmouth the ANC and his leadership of the party.
Zuma's recusal challenge is not an urgent case, so it will not be heard before his next scheduled appearance before the inquiry. However, this latest case may be used as a basis for the former president to decline to answer any of the inquiry's questions.
In his attempt to force Zondo's recusal, Zuma has rejected any suggestion that any decision by Zondo to step down as chair in matters involving him and his family would collapse the inquiry as "irrational and irrelevant".