, the Zondo commission, which has so far heard more than 50 witness testimonies in the past 100 days, is presided over bya patient judge who listens and considers possible alternative versions” of all the evidence presented in front of him, “even when the evidence seems damning”.
Mathane Makgatho, former Group Treasurer at Transnet, seated at her own table to his far right. TV gives the impression that the two are level with each other but in reality, Zondo sits above, much as he would in a court of law. Often during that day’s testimony he would rest his head on his hand as he leaned forward slightly, to listen attentively to the witness below.
Makgatho testified about how she was “sidestepped and bypassed” by the two senior Transnet officials during meetings to consider lucrative tender deals involving a R5-billion loan and 1,064 locomotives, and who would prefer younger accountants who had little “experience” or were “too afraid to speak out”.
He was remarkably alert to the witness and followed every detail she provided, every digression she made to expound a point and all the emotions that accompanied it. Zondo did not miss a beat. Faced with a mountain of evidence, Justice Mokgoro wove through the numerous witnesses’ testimony, court documents and affidavits presented to her painstakingly for two months while listening to multiple versions of the same story by different people with their own motives.
I finally understand why people always insist that an independent judiciary is a necessary aspect of a healthy democracy. When all else has failed, it is this group of people who will gate-keep our freedoms, driven by a commitment to justice under the law.