In court papers, Mbeki argues that Khampepe applied a subjective rather than objective standard when assessing whether her involvement created a reasonable perception of bias. He contends that her continued participation in the inquiry has compromised both the process and its credibility.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Mbeki is asking the court to grant him leave to intervene as a party to Zuma\u2019s review, saying the issues at stake have implications beyond the interests of a single applicant. He also seeks an order compelling President Cyril Ramaphosa to terminate Khampepe\u2019s appointment as inquiry Chairperson.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
In addition, Mbeki wants the court to declare all decisions, proceedings and actions taken under Justice Khampepe\u2019s leadership null and void, arguing that they are tainted by the alleged bias.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Khampepe dismissed a similar request from Zuma in late 2025, ruling that there was no factual basis to suggest she could not preside impartially. Zuma has since challenged that ruling in court, arguing that Khampepe\u2019s historical role in matters related to the security cluster created a conflict of interest. Mbeki\u2019s application now adds a new political dimension to an already complex legal battle between two former heads of state.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The TRC Inquiry, appointed by Ramaphosa, is mandated to examine unresolved matters stemming from the original Truth and Reconciliation Commission, including allegations of political interference and failures to implement key recommendations.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Mbeki argues that the inquiry cannot fulfil its mandate if questions around impartiality remain unresolved. His intervention is likely to prolong proceedings, which have already sparked intense public debate about accountability, political rivalry and the legacy of the TRC.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
–SABC\/ChannelAfrica–<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":23799,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"news-type":[26],"class_list":["post-23798","news","type-news","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","news-type-general_news","entry"],"acf":{"short_description":"Former South African (SA) president Thabo Mbeki has approached the High Court in Johannesburg seeking to join former President Jacob Zuma\u2019s review application aimed at overturning Justice Sisi Khampepe\u2019s refusal to recuse herself as chairperson of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) Inquiry.","published_date":null,"news_description":"Former South African (SA) President Thabo Mbeki has approached the High Court in Johannesburg seeking to join former President Jacob Zuma\u2019s review application aimed at overturning Justice Sisi Khampepe\u2019s refusal to recuse herself as chairperson of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) Inquiry.","form_embed":"","author":"","image_caption":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/23798","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/news"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/23798\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":26659,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/23798\/revisions\/26659"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/23799"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23798"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"news-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news-type?post=23798"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}