Former president Thabo Mbeki is demanding specific questions from the commission investigating Truth and Reconciliation Commission-era crimes that his administration allegedly blocked from being prosecuted.

In correspondence with the commission appointed by President Cyril Ramaphosa and chaired by retired Constitutional Court Justice Sisi Khampepe, Mbeki informed the inquiry, through his lawyers, that he has been out of government since his ousting in September 2008.

Mbeki and several former Cabinet ministers are due to respond to the commission by Monday and insist they are willing to assist the inquiry.

“However, for us to meet the evidence leaders’ deadline of January 12, 2026, we require specific questions to each of our clients. This is precisely why, from the outset, we requested written statements from the commission together with the relevant documents in the custody of (the) government.

“You will agree that it is neither desirable nor fair for our clients to be expected to guess the case they must meet, such an approach is highly prejudicial,” Mbeki’s legal representatives, Boqwana Burns Inc., told the commission.

The lawyers also insist on receiving written statements from the commission with supporting documents setting out clearly the case they need to answer.

Boqwana Burns Inc. complained that the commission just provided a list of witnesses and references to affidavits filed at the Gauteng High Court, Pretoria, on litigation on the matter.

“It must be placed on record that this approach is unhelpful in preparing our clients’ statements to the commission; as we simply do not know the case we must answer in relation to our clients,” the letter reads.

Boqwana Burns Inc. continued: “Treating paragraph references from different proceedings as a substitute for coherent witness statements is, at best, an untenable approach and makes it difficult for clients to be convinced of their participation in this matter.”

According to the lawyers, it is the commission that requires Mbeki and other former Cabinet ministers to attend and must have on its own satisfied itself of the basis of their attendance.

“To this end, we need the commission’s own questions and specific issues that our clients are required to address,” Mbeki’s lawyers insisted.

The ex-president also accused the commission of relying on a book by a controversial journalist detailing attempts to grant some apartheid-era generals immunity from prosecution.

Boqwana Burns Inc. said its clients have been out of government for almost two decades and have limited access to records of their time in the state machinery.

“… We must again insist on receiving written statements from the commission, together with supporting documents, setting out the case our clients are required to answer,” the law firm maintained.

loyiso.sidimba@inl.co.za

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