The Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) has maintained its call that Deputy Chief Justice Raymond Zondo must reconsider his decision to appoint Terence Nombembe as the lead investigator in the commission of inquiry into state capture, which Zondo chairs.

EFF released a statement on Thursday, a few hours after Zondo dismissed the party’s objection to Nombembe's appointment.

Zondo appointed Nombembe, a chartered accountant and auditor, who was the former auditor-general of South Africa, to head commission investigations. Nombembe is also the CEO of the South African Institute of Chartered Accountants (Saica).

EFF spokesperson Mbuyiseni Ndlozi said the party had written to Zondo "in good faith, to appeal to his sense of desire for proper judicial process in the judicial commission of inquiry".

Ndlozi said the objection to Nombembe's appointment was based on the links he had to several key individuals who are alleged to have played a role in state capture.

The EFF accused Nombembe of being tainted after he allegedly accepted a donation of more than R1-million from Trillian. The Gupta-linked company has been implicated in state capture.

News24 earlier reported that Saica explained that the R1.272-million Trillian donation had been made voluntarily and that it formed part of R57-million worth of donations from various organisations in the public and private sectors.

"We have noted with great concern the accusations levelled at the institute due to misinformation about a student-funding donation that one of Saica's entities, the Thuthuka Bursary Fund (TBF) received from Trillian Capital (Pty) Ltd," chairperson and acting Saica CEO Fanisa Lamola said in a statement in March.

Lamola added that Saica held a board meeting in July 2017, a month after the release of a damning Trillian report that unearthed controversial business connections involving Eskom and McKinsey.

"The board unanimously resolved to return the donation to Trillian with immediate effect."

The EFF also accused Nombembe of never conducting any form of investigation into the Guptas while he was Auditor-General and questioned his relationship with former president Jacob Zuma.

He maintained that Nombembe was "much more seriously conflicted than we initially anticipated" and was not a suitable candidate to carry out the role of head of investigations.