Zondo reveals ‘family ties’ with Zuma, denies he needs to step down

This comes after numerous calls by former president Jacob Zuma for the chairperson of the commission to recuse himself. 

Previously, Zuma's lawyers wrote to the commission claiming Zondo had shown bias against him. 

On Thursday revealed in a statement that he fathered a child with the sister of Zuma's estranged wife, Thobeka Madiba, in the mid-90s. 

But Zondo believes the family link he shares with Zuma has no bearing on his judicial functions. 

“In the mid-1990s - that is about 25 years ago - when I was in my 30s and was still in private practice as a lawyer - I got into a relationship with a certain woman out of which a child was born. That relationship ended during the 1990s. Unbeknown to anybody at the time, that woman's sister, Ms Thobeka Madiba, was, many years after that relationship had 2 ended, to get married to Mr Jacob Zuma. To my knowledge Mr Zuma had no relationship with Ms Thobeka Madiba in the mid-1990s,” the statement reads. 

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He points out that Zuma has not objected to him presiding in any of his other legal matters to date.  

“Indeed, in none of the many matters involving Mr Zuma in which I have sat in the past has Mr Zuma ever expressed any complaint or concern nor has he ever brought an application for my recusal. 

“I thought it is necessary to bring the above clarification but I do not at this stage intend to address any of the other allegations made in Mr Zuma's attorney's letter as I will deal with them if and when Mr Zuma's application for my recusal is lodged,” the statement adds. 

The back and forth between Zondo and Zuma has in recent weeks played out in the public eye. 

Read full statement below: