The party founded by former Johannesburg Mayor Herman Mashaba, Action SA, has called on President Cyril Ramaphosa to take strong action against former President Jacob Zuma. This is for his refusal to appear before the Commission of Inquiry into State Capture.
The party says it is time Ramaphosa puts the interests of the country ahead of the ANC.
Discussion on Jacob Zuma’s refusal to appear before the State Capture Commission:
Speaking at a media briefing on the steps of the National Assembly, two of the party’s leaders who are also former ANC MPs, Makhosi Khoza and Vytjie Mentor said Zuma’s actions are causing a constitutional crisis.
“You can no longer sit on the fence. You can no longer choose party unity at the expense of the country. Former president Zuma has to appear before the Zondo Commission. If he insists that he is not going because there Constitutional Court judgment on that, he has to replace his shiny suit with an orange uniform and go to prison. It is about time we take decisive action,” Khoza said.
Richard Calland gives analysis on Zuma-Zondo debacle:
Relationship between Ramaphosa and Zuma
The relationship between Ramaphosa and Zuma has been rocky, compounded by Ramaphosa’s remarks of the nine wasted years under the Zuma administration.
“When we came here we brought a message of renewal. Almost optimism about our country and actually saying that we had come through a very dark period over the last nine years where there was policy uncertainty, where state institutions had been captured and where corruption had run rife in our country and we had been saying to everyone here in Davos, for South Africans, we are putting that behind us, we are now in a new dawn,” Ramaphosa told the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland in 2019.
Zuma refuted the accusation in a statement, saying he never blamed any of his predecessors.
“I never once blamed any predecessor or pointed any perceived failing of any predecessor when I came to the leadership. I focused on what we would do to achieve in the ANC, and we focused on achieving those things. ”
Zuma also alleged that money was used to secure the ANC presidency for Ramaphosa. He also alleged that some judges assisted Ramaphosa to hide from society what could possibly be bribes obtained to help him win an internal ANC election.
During the build-up to the election where Ramaphosa was gunning for the top ANC seat, Zuma threw his support behind Ramaphosa’s opponent, Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma.
In the end, Ramaphosa became party president. A few weeks later, Zuma was removed as president, a move that terribly soured their relations.
President Cyril Ramaphosa weighs in on Jacob Zuma vs State Capture Inquiry debacle:
