Political analyst Ralph Mathekga has described former President Jacob Zuma as one who is willing to smear the names of others at the Commission of Inquiry into allegations of State Capture, but unwilling to substantiate his claims.
During his testimony last week, Zuma dropped big names including that of former President Thabo Mbeki and the late Head of State, Nelson Mandela, saying they were among high ranking leaders who had close relations with the controversial Gupta family.
Zuma also accused former Ministers, Ngoako Ramatlhodi and Siphiwe Nyanda, of being apartheid-era spies.
Mathekga says allegations made at the Commission should be properly substantiated with clear evidence.
He says the challenge with Jacob Zuma is that he wants to use the commission, but he does not want to be useful to the commission.
He says, “We know that within the ANC, they have been throwing allegations of spying against each other. It goes far back within the ANC in various commissions. So all these things come out, but people never want to provide clear evidence. If you don’t provide clear evidence, it only points to one area, you are providing all these allegations so you don’t respond to specific questions.”
“You come out as untruthful and unfortunately that is the picture of Zuma coming out there. He is untruthful, willing to smear, but unwilling to substantiate,” says Mathekga.
