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DA to table Bill to end Eskom monopoly and lower electricity prices for all South Africans

The following remarks were delivered by DA Leader, Mmusi Maimane, at a Press Conference in Parliament today. Maimane was joined by the DA Team One South Africa Spokesperson on State Capture, Natasha Mazzone. A legal summary of the DA’s ISMO Bill can be found here. 

The year 2018 has been characterised by a sustained financial attack on the pockets of all South Africans by the failing ANC government. With increases in petrol tax, VAT, sugar tax, personal income tax, and “sin taxes” – more and more money is being taken away from hard-working South Africans to pay for the ANC’s corruption and inefficiency.

Another costly expense for South Africans has been the increase in electricity prices with Eskom wanting a further 15% increase after the National Energy Regulator of South Africa (NERSA) granted Eskom a 4.41% price increase for 2019/20 and approved a 5.23% average price increase that came into effect at the beginning of April this year. Over the past decade, Eskom’s electricity prices have increased by about 356%, while inflation over the same period was 74%, which means that electricity prices have increased four times faster than inflation over the past 10 years.

This is due to a wide range of factors, with the most systemic cause being a complete lack of competition in the energy sector. Government has a monopoly which breeds inefficiency, rampant corruption and maladministration. This cannot continue any longer.

Moreover, it is not just South African families who are affected by this. Affordable, uninterrupted and reliable electricity access is a bare essential requirement for businesses to operate – especially SMMEs – which are the creators of much-needed jobs for the almost 10 million unemployed South Africans.

Shortly after the economy went into recession, I announced the DA’s plan to get the economy growing. Part of this 7-step “Agenda for Reform” is a plan to end Eskom’s monopoly by splitting Eskom into separate power production and distribution businesses, while at the same time allowing cities to purchase directly from Independent Power Producers (IPPs).

Today, we formally introduce and unpack the DA’s Private Members Bill, namely The Independent System and Market Operator Bill – the “ISMO Bill”. We believe the ISMO Bill is a key component in our plan to revive our economy, fast-track growth, and open up access to new jobs.

It goes without saying that the only way to keep the cost of electricity down for consumers is to introduce competition in the electricity market. Our ISMO Bill aims to achieve this by legislating the creation of an entity that is:

  • financially sound;
  • has efficient systems management;
  • acts as an electricity trader;
  • guides electricity supply and transmission planning;
  • is responsible for the integrated power system; and
  • will dispatch within this integrated system.

The Bill envisages the establishment of an independent body owned by the state tasked with buying electricity from electricity generators. The operator will function as a wholesaler of electricity that sells electricity to distributors and customers at a wholesale tariff. ISMO will function independently to electricity generation businesses to ensure fairness between generators, encouraging competition and innovation.

ISMO’s functions and capabilities include:

  • buying power from generators including IPPs through a power purchase agreement;
  • its operating cost being factored into the wholesale tariff in line with the Regulator’s approval;
  • ensuring that the new electricity produced by generators is incorporated into the national electricity grid and circulated to consumers; and
  • when required, assisting with planning as requested by the Minister of Energy.

A crucial objective of the Bill will be to allow metropolitan municipalities with a proven history of good financial governance and electricity reticulation management to trade with electricity generators directly, buying electricity straight from the source. In the spirit of accountability, the processes involved with such procurement will be required to be transparent, and any agreement concluded will be required to be the result of a competitive bidding process. Metropolitan municipalities that have shown themselves to be capable of good governance will be allowed to manage their energy requirements without being dictated to by national or provincial government.

This is a major boost for consumers, businesses and entrepreneurs in South Africa’s major cities, which aligns with the DA’s “city-led growth” agenda. The DA will now refer the Bill to Parliamentary Legal Services and issue a call for public comment to be published in the Government Gazette. Thereafter, ISMO will be tabled in the National Assembly.

The failed ANC government appears to be unwilling to take the tough decisions to fix the current state of Eskom, and electricity generation and distribution in our country. As far back as 1998, in democratic South Africa’s first energy policy, the 1998 Energy White Paper, government agreed that ‘Eskom will be restructured into separate generation and transmission companies.’

This was followed by a Bill to this effect introduced by the ANC in 2012, stalled, withdrawn and then finally binned by the ANC’s National Executive Committee (NEC). As recently as last week, Finance Minister, Tito Mboweni’s, Medium Term Budget Policy Statement (MTBPS) made it clear that ‘Eskom’s weak financial position remains a risk that could lead to a call on guarantees.’

The truth is South Africa does not have another 20 years of Parliamentary withdrawals, post-election delays, and reformulations for ISMO to be passed. Eskom is a zombie State Owned Entity that is so financially precarious that it could pull our entire economy down with it.

Eskom’s most recent coal shortage crisis is so severe that last month’s indication from the utility was that four stations had less than 10 days of coal supply remaining. Corruption, mismanagement of coal contracts and a decision not to invest in coal-plus mines threaten the coal supply of multiple power stations that will ultimately lead to more load shedding and another devastating blow to South Africa’s economy.

The power utility’s plans to take on R212 billion more debt over the next four years from R388 billion to an unprecedented R600 billion while owed over R20 billion by almost 100 municipalities is grossly irresponsible.

Which is why today I have also submitted a Notice of Internal Appeal to Eskom in terms of section 75 of the Promotion of Access to Information Act for not granting my request for access to the terms and conditions of the R33 billion loan from the China Development Bank within the 30-day PAIA period. If Eskom fails to honour the further 10-day deadline set by this Notice of Internal Appeal, the DA will not hesitate to take the necessary legal action and approach the courts for relief.

The DA’s agenda for reform is in pursuit of a lean and capable state that builds an enabling environment to attract investment in a transparent, market-driven and competitive economy.

Changing failing SOEs like Eskom is the most critical intervention required to create fair access to real and long-term jobs and rapidly speed up the delivery of basic services in South Africa.

The DA’s ISMO Bill is one such intervention that is woven into the fabric of our agenda for change to build One South Africa for All, whereby more economic power lies in the hands of South Africans, not a corrupt and failing ANC government.

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Only Parliament can ‘recall’ Zuma

The Democratic Alliance (DA) notes the decision by the ANC’s National Executive Committee (NEC) to recall Jacob Zuma. This recall is an internal ANC resolution, and nothing more. It has no effect on Jacob Zuma’s current status as President of the Republic, and can be simply ignored by Zuma. Unless he tenders his resignation, this recall is not worth the paper it is printed on.
The fact is, Jacob Zuma remains President, and remains in power. And as long as this is the case, our country suffers.
The only way to remove Jacob Zuma as President of our country is for Parliament to do so through a Motion of No Confidence. It is Parliament that elects and removes a President, not the ANC.
Therefore, the EFF’s Motion of No Confidence, provisionally scheduled for 22 February, must be treated as a priority and brought forward to within this week, in order for Parliament to remove Jacob Zuma.
Following that, the National Assembly must dissolve Parliament in terms of Section 50 of the Constitution. Anyone who wants to be the next President of this country must have the mandate of the people, and this can only be established through an early election.
The people must elect the new South African President, not a few connected cadres within the ANC.

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ANC NEC failure to remove Zuma proves that Ramaphosa is more of the same

The failure by the ANC NEC and ANC President, Cyril Ramaphosa, to recall Jacob Zuma yesterday only proves that the ANC is incapable of change.

Zuma and his cabal of corrupt cronies have wreaked havoc on our country. He has made reckless decisions, destroyed key public institutions, weakened our democracy and ruined our economy, all under the noses of the ANC leadership.

Yet, despite all of Zuma’s indiscretions, Ramaphosa has failed to recall him showing that the ANC will not self-correct and that we can only expect more of the same.

If Ramaphosa was truly serious about rooting out corruption, Zuma would no longer be the President of South Africa.

South Africans deserve a capable President who will act in their best interest at all times, not someone who abuses their power and steals from the people.

It is quite clear that Ramaphosa is not equal to the task of getting rid Zuma as the majority of the ANC is still made up of corrupt and selfish leaders who put filling their own pockets before the needs of the people.

The DA will continue to pursue every possible avenue to hold Zuma accountable for the 783 counts of corruption against him as well as his role in state capture.

The DA is the only alternative to the morally bankrupt ANC.

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Zuma’s legacy lives on in the list of members elected to the ANC’s NEC

The published list of ANC members elected to the party’s highest decision-making body shows that they are far from ridding themselves of Zuma’s legacy of cronyism, corruption and state capture.
The list includes the following high profile individuals with less than savoury track records:

  • Tony Yengeni – a man with a history of criminal charges and convictions against his name, including one for fraud.
  • Mduduzi Manana – recently convicted of three counts of assault with intent to do grievous bodily harm.
  • Collen Maine – self-appointed Supreme Leader of the Gupta Brigade.
  • Bathabile Dlamini – the architect of the SASSA crisis that jeopardized the social benefits of 17 million South Africans.
  • Bongani Bongo – currently facing allegations of attempting to bribe the evidence leader in the Eskom inquiry into State Capture.
  • Faith Muthambi – notorious for nepotism and gross mismanagement of various portfolios.
  • Pule Mabe – embroiled in improper tender scandals and benefits at PRASA.
  • Sylvia Lucas – a figure of controversy during her tenure as Premier of the Northern Cape with a habit of spending huge amounts of public money on fast food.

The unashamed inclusion of these names in the new National Executive Committee shows that the ANC’s promises of self-correction were a myth. Newly elected President of the party, Cyril Ramaphosa, built his campaign on the idea that cutting the head off the snake will kill it, but instead the snake has simply shed its skin.
That the above listed individuals, and others on the list, can not only avoid accountability for their actions, but can be rewarded with decision making power within the ruling party, shows that the ANC cannot, or will not self-correct. South Africans must take matters into their own hands in 2019 and shed themselves of the ANC in favour of a multi-party coalition government with democratic principles as their foundation.

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No, We Won’t Stop Fighting for a Better Parliament

Note to editors: The following speech was delivered in Parliament today by the Chief Whip of the Democratic Alliance, John Steenhuisen MP, during the Budget Vote on Parliament.
House Chairperson,
A few weeks ago, as the Speaker was beating a hasty retreat from the newly constituted Joint Standing Committee on the Financial Management of Parliament (JSCFMP), she had an emotional outburst where she asked me a very interesting question. She said, and I quote, “don’t you ever get tired of fighting?”
Given events at the ANC National Executive Committee (NEC) over the weekend, perhaps the Speaker should rather have been directing that question to colleagues in her own party!
Nevertheless, this weekend’s meeting of the NEC and the release of emails confirm the fact that President Zuma’s cabinet is captured by an extensive network of parasitic vampires who are sucking the very lifeblood from our state and the State-Owned Entities.
They have set up a parallel government that operates through mutually nefarious means and evades all forms of accountability through its tentacles that extend all the way from the Union Buildings, right through organs of state like the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA), and reach deep down into local municipalities.
Two things have emerged, as clear as daylight, from this weekend’s events:
1. South Africa doesn’t have a Jacob Zuma problem, it has an ANC problem – the rot in the ANC goes deep and wide.
2. The ANC knows what the problem is; their alliance partners know what the problem is (which is why Mr Zuma is no longer welcome at their events); South Africans know what the problem is; religious bodies know what the problem is (which is why they have taken to the streets in record numbers not seen since the advent of democracy); and those commentators and ANC members who keep holding out for the “self-correction” are going to grow old waiting for something they will never see. The ANC is incapable of self-correction and it will be up to the voters to force the spring of correction through the ballot box.
And that is why Parliament cannot continue to turn a half glance to the seriousness of the crisis our nation faces through capture of our state. This is exactly why the Leader of the Opposition has proposed that this House establishes an ad hoc committee to probe the extent of state capture.
Witnesses must be subpoenaed, documents must be demanded and those Ministers implicated must face full and proper enquiry by this House. The Constitution gave us the power to do this and we must exercise those powers on behalf of the people to get to the bottom of this scourge and expose and remove this network, root and branch, from our government, State-Owned Entities and wherever it has planted its poisonous roots.
Simply chipping away in individual committees may expose some of the branches but will not deal with the rotten root. That will require a broad and overreaching enquiry that will be able to get a full picture of the extent of the problem. Parliament must do the job that the framers of our constitution intended it to do.
What should a Parliament do?
The Constitution is explicit on what we should be doing as Parliament and section 42(3) sets out very simply the four things we must do:
1. Choose a President;
2. Providing a national forum for the public consideration of issues;
3. Pass legislation;
4. Scrutinize and oversee executive action.
Now you can have all the plans, protocols, intentions and Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) that you like, and we have listened to the Speaker rattling off how well she thinks Parliament is doing. But the reality is, once all the management jargon has been stripped away, if we are not meeting these four simple Constitutional expectations then we are not performing our job. They are the core functions of Parliament and we should be measured by them. So how are we doing on these?
Choosing a president:
Well, the less said about this the better. The truth is that we have a President who has been found by the Constitutional Court to have failed to uphold his oath of office, violated the very Constitution he was supposed to protect, and who continues to ride roughshod over democratic institutions and process.
We elected him in this House and we should have had the courage to remove him when he failed us and the people of South Africa. Yet we allow him to continue in office. The Ipsos poll released today showed that 62% of ANC voters disapprove of Mr Zuma and his approval rating is the lowest of any of the country’s democratically elected presidents. Clearly, South Africans, particularly the 9 million unemployed, don’t think too highly of this Parliament’s performance on this score.
Providing a national forum for the public consideration of issues:
Again, hardly a stellar performance here. The freedom of speech in this House, bequeathed to us by the Constitution no less and which should be a right protected with all the might our presiding officers can muster, is being eroded and undermined every day.
Simple terms, quite ordinarily used in Parliaments and debating forums around the world, have been banned. Members’ rights to say the things that need to be said, particularly members of the opposition, are restricted through a stranglehold of insecure presiding officers. Time and again the members of this House have had to approach the courts to get them to uphold this right, yet time and again the rights are eroded.
Just last week, opposition Members were prevented from calling a minister “an invisible minister”. A Parliament where Members, as public representatives, cannot raise matters in a forthright and robust manner is not good for democracy and not worthy of the name.
Passing legislation:
This should be one of the most important functions performed by us and, given how long we have been doing it, something which should be improving and not declining. Yet on a regular and steady basis legislation passed in this house is struck down by the courts as invalid or unconstitutional.
Shoddy, job-wrecking legislation is pushed through and, despite their obvious failings and legal problems, the ANC cannot bring themselves to correct the errors and omissions. Here in the House they stubbornly march on incorrect paths passing legislation (that’s when they are actually able to get their MPs to pitch for work on the day!) and are then repeatedly beaten in court.
The Speaker has had a lot today to say on empowering and capacitating MPs to do their job. It would be nice if we could just start by making sure that we have enough researchers, legal advisors and content advisors at a committee level so we can properly scrutinise the legislation that the Executive send to us and play the role of proper legislators.
Scrutinising and overseeing Executive action:
Anybody who thinks that this 5th Parliament has met its expectations in this regards must have been living on another planet. This is probably the requirement where we have witnessed the worst failures. At every turn the Executive has been protected from proper accountability and scrutiny.
The Nkandla Report should have been the massive wake-up call that this Parliament needed to overhaul and reconsider how we hold the executive accountable. There was a single tick-box meeting after this devastating indictment on this Parliament’s failure and zero action arising from it. The protection and shielding of the executive has simply continued.
Nowhere is this more evident than the manner in which the Executive is protected by Speaker Mbete during oral question sessions. Bearing in mind that these are the only unscripted exchanges where MPs can truly hold the Executive accountable, the Speaker always defaults to protecting the Executive from difficult and probing questions posed by MPs.
It is for this reason that the SABC was virtually brought to its knees before Minister of Communications, Faith Muthambi, who belatedly felt the firm hand of parliamentary accountability in the ad hoc committee probing the SABC. For an entire year before this, Muthambi was allowed to regularly evade parliamentary accountability with impunity by simply not answering written and oral questions by opposition MPs or by not showing up. There were never any consequences
We witnessed the same pattern with the Minister of Social Development, Bathabile Dlamini, who was also consistently aided and abetted by the Speaker to avoid answering the tough questions relating to the impending South African Social Security Agency (SASSA) grants crisis. Minister Dlamini was allowed to regularly mislead the House over her Department’s readiness to take over social grant payments on 1 April 2017.
When opposition MPs challenged these glaring factual inaccuracies in the House, the Speaker was the first to rush to Dlamini’s defense.
When the anatomy of both these crises is properly examined it is plain to see that both could have been avoided had Parliament been doing its job, without fear and favour, and had those Members who take their role seriously been protected in performing their role by a Speaker who actually placed the institution above her organisation.
South Africa requires a functioning and vibrant Parliament if our multi-party democracy is to survive. It also requires a Parliament that is unafraid of holding the Executive accountable as the Constitution prescribes.
The Speaker
Given the myriad of institutional failings, the Speaker’s dismal record of court losses, the daily own goals and organisational foul-ups, one could be forgiven for thinking there was not enough institutional support for the office. Quite the opposite actually, the Speaker has over 42 employees in her organogram costing over R37 million.
I was particularly interested to note that there is an entire office of nine full-time employees who form the so-called Office on Institutions Supporting Democracy, which includes a Director who rakes in over R1.5 million per annum, a Constitutional and legal advice specialist earning R1.4 million, two legal assistants and a manager.
All this and yet when I made a simple inquiry of the Speaker about some outstanding reports from Chapter 9 institutions I received a letter confirming there were none. Surprise, surprise, less than one week later the reports were magically ATC’d. You have an entire office of people whose full time job it is to liaise and monitor with chapter nine institutions and they couldn’t even pick this up. What a disgrace.
The rules of the National Assembly, in acknowledging the key importance of impartiality, directs the Speaker to conduct herself impartially. Rule 26(4) states that “the Speaker must act fairly and impartially and apply the rules with due regard to ensuring the participation of members of all parties in a manner consistent with democracy”. Whenever the Speaker acts in a way that is partisan, biased or conducts herself in a manner that favours a single political agenda, she breaks that covenant.
So it may be convenient to “not hear” when a member is being sworn at under your nose (despite the fact that the whole nation heard it) or refuse to take action when a female member of the opposition is called a “straatmeid” or become conveniently deaf when Mr Dicks shouts out “rented Darkie”. But every time you do this, Speaker, it undermines the very rules that you are tasked with upholding and enforcing. You do this at your own peril and by extension open yourself up to attack and also place the consistent enforceability of the rules of the National Assembly at great risk.
The Secretary to Parliament
Parliament is much more than just bricks and mortar, it is a living institution made up of people. It cannot function without them and today I want to pay special tribute to the hard-working men and women that make up our staff. I want to say to those that really care about this institution and are invested in its success that your work, under difficult circumstances, is greatly appreciated.
And that’s why I am filled with deep sadness when I see the way that many of you are disrespected, targeted and treated like criminals, sidelined and marginalised, threatened or intimidated by the Secretary to Parliament. Since Mr Mgidlana’s arrival in our Parliament there has been a rapid decline in industrial relations and for many this is not a happy place to work.
On top of this the staff have now received notice that there will be no pay increases this year because there is not enough money. Given inflation and rising cost-of-living, this essentially amounts to a decrease.
It never ceases to amaze me that when it comes to the luxuries there is never a problem finding money. Take for example the international travel of the secretary to Parliament. Given the amount of international travel he does I sometimes think he believes he is the secretary to the United Nations, not the secretary to the Parliament of South Africa. In March last year he spent seven nights in a Lusaka Hotel at R21 000 a night, and enjoyed a rented limousine that cost R800 per hour, adding up to some R37 000 for the duration of his stay. We have, through the JSCFMP, asked for a full breakdown of all international travel costs by the Secretary.
This is of course on top of the blue light brigades, and VIP European and international travel. It seems when it comes to the Secretary to Parliament there is no destination too far or conference to obscure that he isn’t ready to pack his bags for. Despite his multi-million rand salary he has added insult to injury by awarding himself a bursary. Why does somebody who earns what he does require a bursary? There must be countless of our employees who are more deserving and more appropriate recipients.
I would also be remiss if I were not to express concern at the spate of new appointments at a senior management level. It is very clear that a determined and unashamed cadre deployment strategy is at play. How else would somebody like the deeply partisan former ANC spokesperson, Moloto Mothapo, simply drift through the swing doors, suddenly be appointed as the spokesperson for a multi-party, non-partisan institution like Parliament. The employment procedures were rigged and subverted to make sure that the ANC’s dark arts practitioner could get work. He has wasted no time in proving his critics right by turning the Parliamentary media operation into an extension of the ANC attack machine.
I also suppose that we shouldn’t expect any different when the Secretary himself cannot distinguish his role between the Party and the Institution, which is why he sees no problem attending ANC speakers’ forums at Luthuli House to carry out party business. Of course, “Goebbels” Mathopo promptly tried to spin the Secretary as this non-partisan who attends to all party caucuses. I bet there is not a single other party caucus or training that has been graced by his presence. I’m going to investigate who paid for those flights and accommodation costs to attend this meeting. I have a sneaking suspicion what the answer will be.
How funny then that Mgidlana punts the recently launched “new organisational values”, values which include professionalism, integrity, accountability, openness and teamwork, when he and his closest affiliates practice none of these.
Take for example how “special bid adjudication committees” are set up where the Secretary appoints himself to serve despite the fact that the supply chain regulations do not provide for this and where the Secretary is supposed to act as the adjudicator, essentially being both player and referee. We believe that this is a serious breach of the Supply Chain Management (SCM) regulations and the Financial Management of Parliament and Legislatures Act (FMPPLA). We have further concerns about the process used by the Secretary to simply write off fruitless and wasteful expenditure.
It’s clear that the secretary wants to deal with the deficit by making the staff pay for it through denying them bonuses, which they have worked hard for, and by retrenching those staff members who do not bend to his whims. I have a message for those staff members to stand firm. The time is fast approaching when this Parliament will be under new management and we can turn it into a world-class operation by truly working together for the betterment of this special institution.
Conclusion
We can have a functioning and effective Parliament. It’s going to require leaders both political and administrative who put the needs of this institution first, ahead of self-interest, ahead of party interest.
We can truly be an institution that represents our people, their hopes, their concerns, their needs and aspirations, but that means we must always put the people first, ahead of selfish interests and narrow partisanship.
We believe passionately in this institution. We believe that when Parliament works, South Africa works and we must, as an institution, strive harder every single day to live up to the expectations placed upon us by the framers of the Constitution and the people of this great nation.
And so, back to the beginning if I may. Madam Speaker, the answer to your question is an emphatic no!
No, I will never get tired of fighting for a Parliament that does what it is supposed to do.
No, I will never get tired of fighting for the 9 million unemployed South Africans who have suffered through the policies of the Zuma administration.
No, I will never get tired of fighting for greater executive accountability from the President and his cabinet.
And most of all no, I will never get tired of fighting to hold you accountable, and for you to just do your job as the head of this institution.

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Gupta pillage of our country requires stern legal action

What has emerged today is the existence of concrete proof confirming what South Africans have known for some time: the ANC has created, aided, and sponsored a shadow criminal state in South Africa, led by the Guptas and the Zumas.
An array of cabinet ministers, state departments and entities, and public officials have systematically sold off South Africa to a small cabal of foreigners who are on our shores for one reason – to loot our country of its resources in order to makes themselves rich. This should anger anyone who hates injustice and cares about the future of our country.
The Democratic Alliance (DA) has today consulted our lawyers with a view of taking legal action against Jacob Zuma, the Gupta family, implicated cabinet ministers, public officials, SOE executives and board members, and any other individuals who have acted to undermine the state. We believe there are a host of charges of the most serious order including grand corruption, undermining of state sovereignty, and various statutory offences including the leaking of classified information, and undue influence in the awarding of government contracts.
Today’s reports reveal written proof in the form of a string of emails which confirm that South Africa has been captured by the Guptas. From handpicking Cabinet Ministers, to appointing heads of SOE’s, to winning multi-billion rand government contracts, the Guptas and the Zuma’s have manipulated power in order to create a shadow criminal state which operates to enrich a few, and leave the majority of South Africans poor and jobless.
Moreover, it was revealed that Jacob Zuma has been putting in place an exit strategy – with the help of the Guptas – to relocate to Dubai after he is finished raiding the country of its very last cent.
It is clear that as the Gupta Capture scandals continue to grow, a Judicial Commission of Inquiry recommended by former Public Protector, Thuli Madonsela, must be established to swiftly investigate this matter and ensure that this corruption of an unprecedented scale is stopped once and for all. Today’s revelations make it clear as to why Jacob Zuma is opposing the Public Protector’s recommendations in court.
While 9 million South Africans have lost hope in ever finding work, and millions more are trapped in abject poverty, the ANC allows this Gupta-headed heist of our country to proceed unabated.
In fact, today the ANC can remove Jacob Zuma at the sitting of its National Executive Committee (NEC). The NEC has the power to do so. Time will only tell if it has the will.
If the ANC chooses to stand by Zuma and all his corruption again today, then no one within the ANC can claim innocence for this absolute pillaging of our country by a band of connected crooks. There must be collective blame on the whole ANC for partaking, benefiting, and allowing this to unfold.
The ANC has past the point of no return. It cannot self-correct, and it cannot govern in the best interests of all South Africans.
That is why come 2019, the people of South Africa will remove the ANC from government and elect a clean, honest, reliable government that will govern for the people, not the Guptas.