Former South African president Jacob Zuma staged a walkout Thursday at the commission investigating graft in government during his tenure after failing in his legal bid for the commission’s chairman to recuse himself.
Zuma was set to take the witness stand after the ruling, but he left despite appearing under a summons.
Zuma was summoned to respond to questions related to evidence contained in at least 35 affidavits submitted to the commission. But he argued that Deputy Chief Justice Raymond Zondo was biased against him.
Zuma this week appeared before the commission for the first time in more than a year after abandoning his testimony last year. Zuma’s legal steps against the commission and its chairman are widely seen as delaying tactics to avoid facing questions about his role in alleged corruption that occurred largely from 2009 to 2018.