Former African National Congress (ANC) president Jacob Zuma has rubbished the open letter written to all party members and leaders by President Cyril Ramaphosa on the issue of corruption in government.
The seven-page letter by Ramaphosa last week made an appeal to ANC structures to refrain from continuing to seek to make quick money through corruption as it is against ANC values.
But Zuma, hitting back at Ramaphosa, says it is fundamentally flawed in many aspects. The former ANC president claims in the letter that Ramaphosa does not have a basic understanding of how to be a legitimate leader of the ANC and how to communicate with party members.
In a 12-page letter, Zuma says under Ramaphosa there is only a lip-service to the 54th national conference of the ANC such as nationalisation of the Reserve Bank, land expropriation and radical economic transformation.
He adds that he wants to see action from the current ANC president Cyril Ramaphosa.
SABC’s reporter Samkele Maseko gives an analysis of the letter:
NEC meeting
The ANC is currently preparing for a Special National Executive Committee meeting to discuss corruption. One other issue that will be dealt with is the redeployment of former eThekwini Mayor Zandile Gumede. The decision has been met with a lot of criticism from different organisations.
Political analyst, Tessa Dooms weighs in on Zuma’s letter on the eve of the NEC meeting:
Answering questions in the National Assembly on Thursday, President Cyril Ramaphosa said the matter will be dealt with by the NEC.
He was asked twice by the leader of the Official Opposition, John Steenhuisen whether he supports the redeployment.
“It’s a simple question. It’s a simple answer. The matter is being discussed within the structures of the Africa National Congress. That matter that has caused, yes, admittedly, everybody agrees that it has caused a lot of disquiet, and the matter is being discussed within the structures of the African National Congress in a very democratic manner and leave it to those structures to deal with the matter. Thank you very much,” Ramaphosa said.
On Friday, the ANC in KwaZulu-Natal has asked Gumede and the ANC deputy Chairperson Mike Mabuyakhulu to step aside pending their appearance before the ANC’s Integrity Commission.
In the video below, President Cyril Ramaphosa answers questions in Parliament:
