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President Ramaphosa must “come clean” and turn himself in before State Capture Commission of Inquiry

President Cyril Ramaphosa told the nation yesterday that “[F]or the country to move forward, we need to establish the full extent of state capture, identify those responsible for facilitating it, and take decisive steps to prevent it happening again.”

The President is absolutely correct. Recent developments in the Zondo Commission of Inquiry have shown that the capture of the ANC and of National Government and its entities for corrupt ends extends well beyond Jacob Zuma and the Guptas.

Ramaphosa also correctly stated that it is “incumbent upon any person who may have knowledge of any of the matters within the Commission’s mandate to provide that information to the Commission, to do so honestly and to do so fully.” 

It is therefore incumbent on President Ramaphosa to himself come clean and voluntarily request to appear before the Zondo Commission to fully account for his senior leadership tenure since 2012. Ramaphosa must show leadership and heed his own advice in this regard. The DA has already requested the Zondo Commission to call Ramaphosa and 11 other ANC officials, to give their own full accounts of the capture of the ANC and of government. While we await the Commission’s response, the President should request to appear.

As Deputy President of the ANC from 2012, and Deputy President of South Africa from 2014, there is no conceivable way Mr Ramaphosa had no knowledge of the wholescale corrupt capture of the ANC and of National Government and its entities.

Ramaphosa must, at the very least, answer the following questions before the Zondo Commission:

  • At what stage he became aware of the capture of the ANC and the national government and its entities;
  • What steps he took subsequent to becoming aware of such;
  • As Chairperson of the Inter-ministerial Committee on State Owned Entities (SOEs) while Deputy President, what knowledge he had on the appointment of Gupta-friendly individuals to SOE boards;
  • Why he personally appointed several individuals with ties to the Guptas to his first Cabinet on 26 February 2018; and
  • Whether he was aware of any “special work” being performed for the Guptas and their associates by his office while he was Deputy President.

The DA is also in possession of email communication which appears to suggest while Deputy President, Ramaphosa’s office assisted in the identity change of an individual with close ties to Gupta associate Ashu Chalwa. I will be submitting this to the President’s Office requesting a full explanation.

As former ANC MP, Makhosi Khoza revealed, “If we were to prosecute all known corrupt cases‚ including those implicated in the Gupta e-mails‚ almost 80–90% of the ANC leadership at all levels of government would have to replace their shiny tailored suit and pretty dresses with orange overalls.” It is vital that South Africa is made aware of the full extent of this ecosystem of corruption which exists within the ANC and within national government and its entities.’

South Africans deserve a President who is willing to lead and take bold action when it comes to corruption. Ramaphosa must therefore appear and account before the Zondo Commission.

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BOKAMOSO | State capture: SA must build a culture of individual accountability

Strong institutions require individual accountability, and they require strong individuals who can effect accountability. Ask KPMG, which is now under heavy fire for enabling and benefitting from state capture. They’ve learnt this lesson, but it may be too late. Their formal systems were slow to hold individual decision makers responsible, and now the entire organisation is at risk. At best it will suffer major reputational damage. At worst, an outraged (and accountability-hungry) public will mete out an inappropriately severe punishment, forcing clients to dump KPMG, causing the entire organisation to collapse like the Gupta’s PR firm, Bell Pottinger, did last week.
Without doubt, all those decision makers at KPMG who were responsible for enabling or turning a blind eye to Zupta state capture must be held to account and criminal charges should be pursued against them. And KPMG must accede to Gordhan’s request for full disclosure of KPMG’s role. But to shut down the whole company is to wield a blunt instrument that is unlikely to achieve real justice. The fact is, when leaders are able to evade accountability, it puts their whole organisation or institution at risk. And this is exactly what is playing out in our democracy. We have failed to hold individual political leaders responsible.
All evidence – and there is plenty to go by in former Public Protector Thuli Madonsela’s report State of Capture and in the 200 000 GuptaLeaks emails – points to Zuma, his son Duduzane, the Guptas and cabinet ministers Malusi Gigaba, Mosebenzi Zwane, and Lynne Brown as the main state capture players. And yet not a single prosecution has been launched.
The DA has laid criminal charges against all the main state capture players, but SAPS, the Hawks, and the NPA have done nothing at all. If the DA were in power, a Special Investigating Unit would have been launched. Above all others, the duty to bring these perpetrators to book rests with NPA head Shaun Abrahams, who is nowhere to be seen. He has failed us immeasurably.
And the National Assembly has failed in its constitutional duty to hold these individuals to account. The ANC rejected the DA’s request for an ad hoc committee to investigate all the allegations. Instead, in June 2017, four Parliamentary Portfolio Committees – Public Enterprises, Home Affairs, Public Service and Administration and Mineral Resources – were tasked with “urgently” probing allegations. These have proceeded at a snail’s pace. Only the Public Enterprises Committee has begun to hold hearings. Lynne Brown stated in that committee that there was nothing untoward between Trillian and Eskom. And yet since then, much incriminating evidence has come to light. We have referred Brown to the Ethics Committee for misleading the public.
Three months have passed, yet the other three committees have failed to summon a single minister. Not even Malusi Gigaba who, as Minister of Home Affairs, used his personal discretion to grant naturalised citizenship to the Guptas, enabling them to classify as BEE recipients and access tenders. Bizarrely, the Director General has been suspended for this decision, even though he opposed it.
This is a massive indictment on Parliament, and an indication of just how weak the institution has become – because the ANC believes it is untouchable electorally. Section 92 of the Constitution states that: Members of the Cabinet are accountable collectively and individually to Parliament for the exercise of their powers and the performance of their functions. Parliament needs to find and use its teeth. It must establish a properly resourced ad hoc committee to undertake a thorough, holistic investigation. And then it must advise the President that these ministers are unfit to hold office.
Last week, the DA was in court to try to force the President to abide by former Public Protector Thuli Madonsela’s instruction to him to establish a judicial inquiry into state capture, led by a judge appointed by Chief Justice Mogoeng Mogoeng. The DA was also in court last week to try to force the NPA to prosecute the President on 783 counts of corruption. We await rulings on both these cases. Public Protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane is failing South Africa too. Her investigation of these ministers should be an urgent priority for her office.
The DA believes strongly in individual accountability. (We have just fired a councillor in Johannesburg, for wrongdoing.) The ANC eschews individual responsibility in favour of the collective. They have consistently protected guilty individuals and so they, as a collective, must take responsibility. The entire organisation deserves to be rejected by the electorate. Whereas the majority of KPMG’s employees played no part whatsoever in enabling Zupta state capture, the same cannot be said of the ANC. Dr Makhosi Khoza, who resigned from the ANC yesterday, said in her resignation speech:
If we were to prosecute all known corrupt cases including those implicated in the Gupta e-mails‚ almost 80–90% of the ANC leadership at all levels of government would have to replace their shiny tailored suites and pretty dresses with orange overalls.
Corruption is not a victimless crime as our President would have us believe. On the contrary, it is a crime against every single South African, and we are all very much the poorer for it. Many will be poorer still if the Zuptas succeed in capturing their next target for corruption: the Public Investment Corporation (PIC), which manages the Government Employees’ Pension Fund. This week, Zupta cronies tried unsuccessfully to remove PIC chief executive, Dan Matjila. They will not give up easily. And nor should South Africans. As the KPMG affair has shown: ultimately, the power lies with the people. We must use it wisely.

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Those involved in State Capture will be held to account, whether in private sector or government

The following statement was delivered today by Democratic Alliance (DA) Leader, Mmusi Maimane, at a press briefing in Parliament, Cape Town. Maimane was joined by Federal Executive Chairperson, James Selfe, and DA Chief Whip, John Steenhuisen. 
I want to begin by welcoming yesterday’s decision by ANC Member of Parliament, Dr Makhosi Khoza, to quit the ANC. For many, it is not an easy decision to leave the party of liberation in South Africa. She must congratulated for her bravery and integrity, and we hope the many like her within the ANC come to the same realisation she did: that the ANC is dead, and beyond the point of no return. Dr Khoza summed this up yesterday, when she said:
“If we were to prosecute all known corrupt cases including those implicated in the Gupta e-mails‚ almost 80–90% of the ANC leadership at all levels of government would have to replace their shiny tailored suites and pretty dresses with orange overalls”
It’s time for a new beginning for our nation, and that new beginning lies in a post-ANC South Africa.
Corruption is an oppressive system that operates to destroy work opportunities, and operates against ordinary South Africans at the expense of a few. Whether it is a councillor who accepts a bribe for an EPWP job, or a senior executive at a large corporate firm who unduly wins government contracts – South Africans suffer because of this. Our challenge is to dismantle corruption is all its forms.
Ever since the infamous “Gupta leaks” some months ago, our nation has been knocked with daily revelations and new information pertaining to the intricate web of corruption, extortion, and undue influence exercised by the President, numerous ministers in his cabinet, and the infamous Gupta family.
The emails, and the information uncovered subsequent to that, provides a surfeit of evidence showing that our country has been captured by the President and his ANC government to make themselves and their friends rich – while ordinary South Africans suffer in the plight of unemployment and poverty. It is this state capture and corruption the ANC continues to condone and protect.
However, over the past weeks, the extent of the rot of state capture and grand corruption in our nation has become chillingly apparent. The recent revelations that private sector companies, such as KPMG and McKinsey, allegedly aided Gupta-aligned companies to profit from government contracts drove home the uncomfortable reality that our country has truly been captured in its entirety – and our young democracy is under siege.
As the Democratic Alliance (DA), we maintain that anyone implicated in any form of corruption, collusion or State Capture – in either the public and private sector – must be held accountable and face the consequences of their actions. As such, we have begun tackling this issue head on, in order to ensure those who engage in corruption are brought to book for their actions.
Private Sector
International auditing firm, KPMG, has become embroiled in the state capture saga by allegedly providing technical international tax advice to Gupta-aligned companies and by helping facilitate funds being moved from South Africa to Dubai. The firm assisted with tax avoidance advice as well as the setting up of shell companies, which assisted Gupta-owned Linkway Trading in laundering R30-million in public funds to pay for the family’s 2013 Sun City wedding.
Since these revelations, the wheels of accountability have begun to turn at KPMG, with the forced resignation of at least 7 of its top executives– including the firm’s CEO and COO. Moreover, KPMG has signalled its intention to donate the profits earned to charity, and KPMG International has launched an internal investigation into this matter.
We welcome the fact that those who carried out corrupt work for Gupta-aligned companies are being held accountable for wrongdoing. However, there is still more to do. As such, we call on KPMG to take the following steps:

  • To offer a public explanation as to the details surrounding the KPMG report into the so-called “rogue unit” at SARS, which was used to undermine the South African Revenue Service (SARS). KPMG must clarify how the end product came about, why they failed their own internal quality controls, and whether anyone from SARS interfered in the process;
  • To open its books and make public all its dealings with those involved in state capture, including all Gupta-aligned companies and any government entities;
  • To ensure every individual implicated in any underhand work done for Gupta aligned interests be removed from the firm; and
  • To make public any bonuses or severage packages handed to senior executives following their removal or forced resignation.

I will also be writing to the Governor of the South African Reserve Bank (SARB), Lesetja Kganyago, requesting that he confirm whether senior management at KPMG, or anyone else employed by them, reported any suspicious transactions to the Financial Intelligence Centre (FIC), as they would be obliged to do in terms of Section 29(1)(b) of the FIC Act 38 of 2001.
In addition to KPMG, international consultancy firm, McKinsey, appears to have paved the way for Gupta-linked firm Trillian to make hundreds of millions of rands from Eskom as it sub-contracted 30% of its Eskom work to the Trillian under the guise of ‘supplier development”.
Earlier this week, the DA laid criminal charges of fraud, racketeering and collusion in terms of Section 21 of the Prevention and Combatting of Corrupt Activities Act (PACCA) against McKinsey. We believe there are other avenues that ought to be pursued in addition to these charges. Therefore, I will be writing to the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) in London – where McKinsey’s Headquarters are located – requesting an investigation into the dealings in terms of the UK’s Bribery Act.
The DA will not back down in our pursuit of full accountability in these matters. As was evident in the Bell Pottinger case, those in the private sector who are caught in dodgy dealings with the powerful and the corrupt will be brought to book and face full accountability.
Public Sector
While the private sector has been responsive to these allegations and initiated accountability, when it comes to government, those at the top have thus far gotten away with corruption, collusion and aiding State Capture. In particular, cabinet ministers – including Malusi Gigaba, Lynne Brown, Des Van Rooyen, Mosebenzi Zwane and Faith Muthambi among others – face a litany of  State Capture allegations. Yet to date, not one minister has been held to account.
Section 92 of the constitution is clear: Ministers are accountable collectively and individually to Parliament for the exercise of their powers and performance of their functions. Moreover, section 237 of the constitution provides that constitutional obligations must be performed diligently and without delay.
However, this has not occured and it appears Parliament is in the process of breaching its constitutional obligations again – as the Constitutional Court found it to have done in the infamous Nkandla matter.
I had previously written to the Speaker on 29 May 2017 requesting that a draft resolution be placed on the Order Paper to establish an ad hoc committee to investigate these matters, as this would be the most appropriate way to holistically pursue accountability. This ad hoc committee was never established. Instead, on 20 June 2017, House Chairperson, Mr Frolick tasked the Portfolio Committees of Mineral Resources, Public Enterprises, Transport and Home Affairs with the responsibility of “urgently” probing the allegations of state capture insofar as they concerned those Ministers or departments.
Despite the mandate to probe “urgently”, these committees have proceeded with their work at a snail’s pace. Only the Public Enterprises Committee has appointed an evidence leader and has begun to hold hearings, however their probe is focused solely on Eskom, and excludes other players such as Transnet and Denel. The remaining three committees have achieved nothing in this regard.
Therefore, we are of the view that both the appointment of the four separate committees, instead of a single ad hoc committee, as well as the obfuscation and delays that have characterised the work of these committees constitute a deliberate attempt to undermine the responsibility of the National Assembly to hold the Executive to account. Even if not deliberate, the mere lack of urgency by the committees frustrates the National Assembly’s constitutional mandate.
It is for this reason that I have today written to Ms Baleka Mbete, the Presiding Officer of the National Assembly, requesting that our draft resolution be placed on the Order Paper to establish an ad hoc committee into State Capture by no later than 31 October 2017. The Speaker has now been put on notice and must act without delay. Given this and the seriousness and importance of these matters, we must place on record that if the Speaker does not issue the instruction concerned, we reserve our right to approach a Court for appropriate relief.
Furthermore, we request that the Speaker sees to it that a Disciplinary Committee is established – in terms of Rule 216 of the National Assembly Rules – to consider whether any of the following Ministers have acted in breach of their constitutional duties:

  • Malusi Gigaba
  • Faith Muthambi
  • Des Van Rooyen
  • Lynne Brown
  • Mosebenzi Zwane

Conclusion
We maintain that everyone involved in State Capture – ministers, companies, and any other individuals – be summoned to Parliament to be interrogated and held accountable if found guilty. We need to urgently get to the bottom of State Capture and its corrosive effect on our nation and its people.
As the official opposition, we will continue fighting corruption and State Capture with every possible instrument, because without defeating it, we cannot address our stubborn unemployment rate and we will never achieve economic freedom and equality for all South Africans. Only when we have defeated corruption, can we defeat the social ills prevalent in South Africa.
Ultimately, South Africans have the power to vote out State Capture and corruption at the ballot box in 2019, and choose a new beginning for our country.

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Makhosi Khoza resignation proof that the ANC cannot and will not self-correct

The DA notes Makhosi Khoza’s announcement today that she has quit the ANC. Her decision to leave the ruling party is further proof, form one of its own members, that the ANC cannot self-correct.
As Dr Khoza said herself, “I will not be led by leaders who lost legitimacy and credibility. I want to say goodbye to the corrupt ANC”.
It is clear corruption has compromised the ability of the ANC to govern in the best interest of the people of South Africa.
Our young people are struggling to find jobs and our mothers are struggling to feed their children, yet the ANC continues to protect corruption and have tried to rid the organisations of moral and just leaders.
South Africa needs a new beginning and the DA is ready and waiting to bring the change that South Africans want and deserve.

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ANC firing Makhosi Khoza won’t save Muthambi from appearing before committee

The DA will be writing to the Acting Secretary to Parliament, Penelope Tyawa, to ensure that bunking Minister of Public Service and Administration, Faith Muthambi, be subpoenaed to appear before her portfolio committee at the soonest possible date.
The ANC’s disgraceful decision to fire the Chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on Public Service and Administration, Makhosi Khoza, will not allow Muthambi to escape accountability.
Muthambi inexplicably failed to appear before her committee on 15 August, despite travelling to Cape Town and giving assurances that she would appear. The committee passed a unanimous resolution to have her summoned to appear before the committee. That resolution stands and Muthambi must be summoned. If she fails to appear next time, following the summons, she will be liable to a fine or imprisonment.
The Acting Secretary must state explicitly when the minister will be issued with the summons and on what day she will be compelled to appear.
The DA will also call on the Acting Secretary to ensure that Muthambi is held liable, in her personal capacity, for the costs of her trip to Cape Town, along with the costs of the travel of her fellow truants, the Director-General of the Department and the CEOs from the National School of Government and the Centre for Public Service and Innovation.
Indeed, an investigation must be initiated into whether or not Muthambi pressurised these persons to bunk the committee. It is a serious matter indeed if she used her influence to sabotage a committee of Parliament.
We cannot and will not allow the ANC’s war with itself to impact the work of Parliament and allow errant ministers to evade accountability. South Africa cannot afford two more years of this ANC government.

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Khoza’s axing shows the ANC cannot be trusted

The axing of the Chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on Public Service and Administration, Makhosi Khoza, is the clearest example yet of how the ANC’s in-fighting is preventing Parliament from doing the people’s business.
The message this sends to other Chairpersons and office bearers in Parliament is that if they do their job and fulfil their constitutional obligations in trying to force accountability, they will be punished.
The ANC cannot be trusted, not even by their own Members of Parliament.
The ANC leave delinquents like Bathabile Dlamini, Faith Muthambi, Mosebenzi Zwane and Mduduzi Manana to put the lives and livelihoods of ordinary citizens at risk yet gun for members who had the guts to vote to remove a President who has literally sold our country to the highest bidder.
ANC infighting is paralysing Parliament and the State and this cannot continue.
Our country desperately needs a new beginning. That is why the DA has called for Parliament to be dissolved and for fresh elections to be held.
The ANC is too far gone to self-correct and this in-fighting will only get worse as the December elective conference gets closer.
It is time for the people to have their say.
South Africa needs to go to the polls to usher in the change it deserves. The sooner the better.

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Now is the time to not remain silent, Deputy President Ramaphosa

The following remarks were delivered by DA Leader Mmusi Maimane at an event today where he delivered to Deputy President Ramaphosa a petition signed by 1 million South Africans calling for President Zuma to be fired.
My fellow South Africans,
People often ask me: “What can ordinary South Africans do to save our country from the looting that is taking place?”
People want to step into the fight. They feel justifiably angry, but they also feel powerless. They see the evidence against Jacob Zuma and Guptas piling up like this big, flat mountain here next to us, but to them it seems like the guilty are getting away with it.
And to these people I say: Do everything you possibly can. March with us. Write to an MP. Use your vote. Sign a petition. Exhaust every single avenue. Because together these actions cannot go unnoticed.
Today I have brought with me the signatures of over a million South Africans who did just that. More than a million South Africans who want us, the Members of the National Assembly, to put our country first and fire Jacob Zuma.
And I have brought them here to the steps of Tuynhuys so that I can leave them in the hands of the Deputy President. Because if anyone needs reminding of exactly what must be done to save our country, it is Cyril Ramaphosa.
Mr Ramaphosa, I call on you today to do what you know is the right thing. There is only one ethical and honourable course of action here. You know it, I know it, and every single South African knows it.
We call on you to vote to fire President Zuma in next week’s Motion of No Confidence. We also call on you to use your position as Leader of Government Business to encourage ANC MPs to vote in accordance with their oaths of office, and to vote President Zuma out.
Three weeks ago you told the world that you will not remain quiet when it comes to the looting of our country through state capture. You said:
“When things like these are spewing out in our national discourse, we cannot turn a blind eye. We cannot keep quiet. We now know without any shred of uncertainty that billions of Rands of public money have been diverted into the pockets of a few.”
Those are fighting words. But words mean nothing until you put them in action.
For the millions of South Africans who suffer every day in this country under this disastrous government, your loyalty to the ANC means nothing. They want straight answers and they want accountability. They want you to do your job.
And when you say you will not remain silent about those who are looting our country, the people of South Africa want you to speak up where it really matters. Not at an SACP congress. Not in interviews. Not in the media.
No, if you want to show us you are a man of your word – a man of integrity – then raise your voice where it matters. As the Leader of Government Business, you are arguably the most influential voice in the cabinet and in the ANC caucus. This is where you must not remain silent.
Because if you’re out there in the spotlight of the media saying one thing, but doing the exact opposite in the benches of the ANC and behind the closed doors of caucus and cabinet meetings, then there is only one conclusion South Africans can draw: You cannot be trusted.
Apart from your own sworn duty to your country – which compels you to do the right thing and vote in favour of the Motion of No Confidence next week – you have a responsibility to hold your ANC colleagues to their duty too.
Some of these colleagues have spoken out recently and said that they intend to vote with their conscience. MP’s like Makhosi Khoza, Pravin Gordhan and Mondli Gungubele. But these people have been threatened with disciplinary action – even with their jobs. Is this what you fear too, Mr Ramaphosa?
It seems that if you have a conscience in the ANC, you are done. This is something Gwede Mantashe confirmed on Monday when he said: “If they had a conscience, they should have discovered it before they agreed to be in Parliament on an ANC list.”
Surely this cannot be true, Mr Ramaphosa? Gwede Mantashe must be wrong. Surely there must be space within your party for men and women to act with courage of conviction; to put South Africa first.
We’ve been here on seven occasions in the past. And in seven previous Motion of No Confidence votes you and your colleagues in the ANC benches chose to stand behind a corrupt president rather than the people of South Africa.
This eighth vote will likely be the last chance you will have to prove yourselves. If you fail to use it, you will sink along with the ANC.
Whether by secret ballot or open ballot, there is only one possible correct vote on this motion. Anything other than support for the motion will be a dereliction of your duty, and this includes a choice to abstain from voting.
Anyone who aspires to the highest office in the land has to stand with the people. This should go without saying.
The signatures in these boxes represent the will of the people. There is no grey area when it comes to what is expected of you. The ball is in your court now. Let your conscience guide you, and know that the people will not forget your decision.
Thank you.

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Chairperson Khoza must summon Muthambi for family junket

The DA will write to the Chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on Public Service and Administration, Dr Makhosi Khoza, to request that she summon Public Service and Administration Minister, Faith Muthambi, to account for wasting R300 000 of taxpayer’s money on flying 30 people to watch her give a speech in Parliament.
Muthambi must be made to repay every cent she spent on making sure people would come to watch her speak.
Her guests included her son, sister, aunt and mother and former SABC Board Chairwoman, Ellen Tshabalala. A Limpopo police constable was employed by Muthambi as her personal assistant and former SABC boss, Hlaudi Motsoeneng’s, daughter was also hired by her.
These reports have surfaced on the back of revelations that the Gupta family had received highly confidential cabinet meeting information from Muthambi in May.
‘Meddling’ Muthambi, who is seemingly deeply compromised and who is the very same person who oversaw the demise of the SABC, is clearly at it again in her new portfolio.
She clearly has no inclination to serve South Africa but is very happy to fly her family and friends around at our expense.
The DA will not stand for this. Muthambi must appear to account before the Public Service and Administration Committee and be made to pay back every cent of wasted taxpayer’s money.

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BOKAMOSO | The ANC fired the Scorpions in 2008. We must fire the ANC in 2019.

It seems surreal that despite a seemingly endless flow of highly incriminating evidence of brazen looting of state coffers, not a single arrest has been made, nor investigation instigated. To me, it seems equally surreal that the blame for this is almost universally directed at President Zuma rather than at the ANC. Yet the ANC began suppressing state mechanisms of accountability before Zuma became president and they will clearly need to keep doing so, even after he steps down. The ANC is our real problem, not Zuma.

The Scorpions were the most potent and widely trusted crime-fighting unit our democracy has ever known. They tackled complex criminal investigations without fear or favour. No corporate director or high ranking politician was out of bounds. And this is why they had to go.  The ANC disbanded them in 2008, before Zuma became president, to protect themselves from arms deal and travelgate-style corruption that had already become entrenched in the ANC by then.

Had the Scorpions not been decommissioned back then, the capture of our state by the Zuma and Gupta families and their massive network of cronies would likely never have gotten off the ground. But the ANC opted to expose the country to this kind of risk, to protect themselves. And they are still at it. That is why they have protected Zuma in seven motions of no confidence and that is why they will do so again next month.

Even if enough MPs, such as Makhosi Khoza and Pravin Gordhan, vote with their conscience and Zuma is fired, it will not be enough. Make no mistake, this country will still be led by people who have let us down badly, many of whom are themselves compromised and will therefore continue to suppress all constitutional mechanisms for accountability. The only way to truly free our country is to fire the ANC in 2019.

Consider this statement by ANC Member of Parliament Yunus Carrim, in his speech in Parliament in 2008 arguing for the disbanding of the Scorpions: “Finally, let me say that we must be very clear. We are simply not going to allow our wonderful country to be handed over to organised criminals – absolutely not. [Applause.] You can bet your life on it, it is not going to happen. Do you know why? Mainly, you have to trust us. The main victims of organised crime, corruption and crime in general are the working class and the poor.”

Well Carrim was absolutely correct that the main victims of organized crime are the working class and the poor. Though that didn’t stop the ANC (and their SACP alliance partners) from handing the keys to our Treasury over to the biggest organized crime syndicate our democracy has ever seen. With a record 9.3 million South Africans now jobless, and with real per capita incomes having contracted for the past 3 years, poor South Africans are left in no doubt as to who are the main victims of organized crime.

But with the benefit of hindsight, we South Africans should know it was a grave mistake to place our trust in the ANC. They began their state capture project, deliberately and consciously, when they adopted their policy of cadre deployment at their Mafikeng conference in 1997 to gain control over the “key levers of power” – including “the army, the police, the bureaucracy, intelligence structures, the judiciary, parastatals, and agencies such as regulatory bodies, the public broadcaster, the central bank and so on”. The Guptas didn’t invent state capture, they just perfected it.

We urgently need to restore the checks and balances that will protect South Africa from rampant looting.  Instead, the ANC is already at work to destroy the most potent of all mechanisms of accountability: free and fair elections. Just this week, veteran ANC leader Frank Chikane warned that funds raised by the state capture project would be used to “steal the 2019 elections”.

The national election of 2019 may be our last opportunity to restore accountability and fire the ANC. We must seize it. The DA has fought state capture resolutely on all fronts. When we lead a coalition government in 2019, we will move swiftly to restore the independence and strength of our crime fighting institutions so that a culture of accountability can once again take root in our democracy.

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Dr Khoza will be protected, thankfully, not too late

The DA welcomes the response from the Speaker of the National Assembly, Baleka Mbete, to our calls to provide Dr Makhosi Khoza the protection she and her family need.
The Speaker did, however, take almost three months after first learning of these threats to ensure that Dr Khoza was protected.
Thankfully, this protection is not too late, as it has been for many other office-bearers who have not been afforded the same level of protection because they are not part of the ANC elite.
Of particular concern is the continued provision of VIP protection to Jacob Zuma’s preferred successor, Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma.
Millions are spent on VIP protection for Dlamini-Zuma by the Presidential Protection Unit despite the fact that she is not a public office-bearer.
This money could be spent on ensuring that our police men and women have the equipment they need to keep ordinary South Africans safe.
The DA will continue to push for protection to those who need it and for funding to be spent properly on protecting our people, and not just the ANC politically connected few.