Zondo said he asked Ramaphosa to be the first leader to submit an affidavit on whether he had any relations with the fugitive Gupta family, their companies, and Bosasa, now known as African Global Operations.

"The president accepted that this was necessary and indicated that he would furnish the commission with an affidavit making such disclosures on his part. He also undertook to encourage ministers and deputy ministers, past and present ones, to cooperate when approached by the commission. I received the affidavit from the president in early July," said Zondo.

"He made the request that the commission discloses the affidavit to the public so that there will be no speculation about its contents. I decided to grant this request and will make it available to the media. I emphasise that he made the request that it be disclosed because I don't want any impression created that each time we get an affidavit it will be revealed publicly before its depositor testifies before the commission."

Zondo added that former president Jacob Zuma, who appeared last week, was not the only leader asked to give his side of the story. Zuma complained that it seemed the commission was set up to target him personally.

Zondo said he told Ramaphosa that the work of the commission cannot be fully completed without testimonies or statements from government leaders and those in the governing party, the African National Congress (ANC).

"It would be important that some in leadership come and give evidence on when they may have realised there was state capture and what they did about it... and explain to the nation through the commission. In this regard, I informed former president Zuma that since he was deputy president for a few years covered by allegations before the commission, it was necessary that he appear and give evidence about some of these matters."

"The same would apply to the governing party because over the years, it has been given the mandate to govern and the people of South Africa may be asking questions as to when it [ANC] realised that there were acts of state capture happening and what it did to stop that."

The Zondo-led commission is investigating the alleged rent-seeking scandal that marked much of Zuma's two-term presidency. The Gupta family, who were very close to Zuma, allegedly siphoned off billions of rands through contracts at South Africa's state-owned enterprises, assisted by corrupt government leaders and officials.

African News Agency (ANA)