Former South African president Jacob Zuma appeared on Monday before a state commission investigating serious allegations of corruption during his tenure as head of state from 2009 to 2018.
It is the first time that Zuma has appeared before the commission since he abandoned his testimony at the commission more than a year ago.
Zuma was forced to step down from his position as president in 2018 by his African National Congress party amid allegations of fraud and corruption.
The commission has no powers to prosecute, but other law enforcement agencies may follow up on information revealed at the commission and pursue criminal cases against those implicated.
On Monday, Zuma launched an application for the chairman of the commission, Deputy Chief Justice Raymond Zondo, to recuse himself from the investigation, claiming that Zondo was biased against him.
His lawyer Muzi Sikhakhane told the commission that Zuma felt that the commission chairman was biased against him, and that the selection of witnesses at the commission showed it already had conclusions about his guilt.
According to Sikhakhane, Zondo treated some of the witnesses with courtesy but this was not extended to Zuma. Zuma has previously stated that he felt as though he was on trial, and complained that some of the allegations that he had made against witnesses had not been investigated.
The commission’s legal representative, Paul Pistorius, has dismissed Zuma’s claims of bias, saying the real reason he wanted the chairman to recuse himself was because he was concerned that Judge Zondo would make adverse findings against him.