Young told Sowetan on Wednesday (17 July) that, depending on evidence presented at the Seriti Commission of Inquiry, he may face Zuma who, according to an audit report, was allegedly one of the ANC officials who received bribes in the form of commissions from big arms manufacturers.
"People like me would implicate Zuma and he would want to apply [to the commission] to cross-examine me," Young claimed.
"But if he does that it means I will be allowed to cross-examine him. I don't think he will be called by the commission as a witness in any phase but he will come as an indirect result of the process," said the Cape Town businessman who lost out on a multi-million rand deal.
But Zuma's possible appearance may be in the later stage when the commission deals with the terms of reference relating to allegations of impropriety, fraud and corruption.
Commission spokesman Willy Baloyi said many names might be called but he could not speculate whether Zuma would be one of them.
But he confirmed that when a person is implicated, or alleged to have influenced the arms deal process, they will be called to answer the allegations.
Public hearings start next month and the commission announced a list of witnesses on Wednesday (17 July) who will take part in the first phase, including former president Thabo Mbeki, Planning Minister Trevor Manuel, who was finance minister at the time, and Cope leader Mosiuoa Lekota who was defence minister.
The first phase starts on 5 August and ends on 31 January. It will deal with the acquisition, need for the weapons and if the armaments were being used.
But Young has little faith in what he called the "stage-managed commission". He said there were "gatekeepers", including Justice Minister Jeff Radebe and possibly Judge Willie Seriti, who would do everything possible to protect Zuma.
Source: Sowetan via I-Net Bridge
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