Zuma denies secret pact to shield apartheid generals

The inquiry is chaired by retired justice Sisi Khampepe. It is examining whether people or institutions improperly interfered with prosecutions of apartheid-era crimes that the Truth and Reconciliation Commission referred. Allegations before the inquiry say Zuma and former president Thabo Mbeki took part in secret meetings with former defence force and police generals between 1998 and 2003. The meetings were allegedly meant to find a way to avoid prosecutions. Mbeki has denied the allegations before the inquiry.

Zuma admitted that the ANC held talks with the apartheid regime before 1994. He said he was part of an ANC delegation that negotiated with the regime in 1990. He denied that those talks included any agreement to suppress prosecutions of apartheid-era atrocities.

Zuma also said he did not direct or authorise the obstruction of any identified TRC-related case. He said he appointed Menzi Simelane as head of the National Prosecuting Authority for reasons unrelated to delaying, stopping or controlling any such investigation or prosecution. The Constitutional Court overturned Simelane's appointment in 2012. The affidavit names Penuell Maduna as part of an advance team that returned to South Africa in March 1990.