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Johannesburg — President Jacob Zuma’s apology over the Nkandla scandal is an “important beginning”, the SA Communist Party (SACP) said yesterday. Zuma’s apology and his undertaking to implement to the full the remedial actions proposed by the public protector, and now upheld as enforceable by the ConCourt, are important beginnings,” the party’s political bureau said. “Strict implementation of the remedial measures called for by the public protector on Nkandla will be a beginning, but self-correction must clearly go way beyond this.”
On Friday night, Zuma appeared on a live television broadcast to apologise for the Nkandla funds debacle.
His announcement came after the Constitutional Court ruled on Thursday that Zuma and the National Assembly had defied the Constitution when they chose to set aside Public Protector Thuli Madonsela’s report following her probe into security upgrades at Zuma’s Nkandla home.
Both the court judgment and the president’s apology “were important moments in the re-affirmation and consolidation of constitutionality . . .” said the SACP. The party urged the ANC to see the judgment as a “clear warning signal” to take “decisive action”.
It said that the ANC parliamentary caucus needed to conduct “serious and collective soul-searching” following the court finding about the National Assembly’s duties with regard to the matter.
The SACP also suggested that the ANC leadership “reflect critically on the capacities and motives of a circle of informal presidential courtiers, flatterers, patrons, factionalists and hangers-on”. “It’s a circle that, in our view, continuously and prejudicially exposes the presidency.
“We believe that the ConCourt judgment and the dangers of corporate capture are not unconnected.”
Controversy that has broken out about the influence of the Gupta family over government was nothing new, the SACP suggested — mentioning as an example, the previous scandal over the influence of now-deceased businessman Brett Kebble in the ANC Youth League of earlier times.
In a related development, ANC supporters said yesterday it takes a real man to stand up in front of the nation and apologise, putting their full support behind President Jacob Zuma.
More than 15,000 people gathered at the Melmoth sports grounds in KwaZulu-Natal to hear Zuma address them at an imbizo on the drought.
While opposition parties and some prominent South Africans have called for Zuma to resign after a monumental Constitutional Court judgment found that he and Parliament had violated the Constitution, thousands in KwaZulu-Natal expressed their love for Zuma, singing “We love Msholozi”.
One of the many who said Zuma should remain as president was Njabulo Majola, 21, from Vuma in Ntumeni.
He said: “It takes a real man to humble himself in front of the nation and apologise. People must accept the president’s apology and move on from this Nkandla debacle.”
Majola said people should rather focus on the 2016 local government elections. Felintweyakhe Mhlongo, 63, from Nkandla said Zuma was right to apologise. “Those who handled the project were in the wrong. Zuma did the honourable thing and apologised because it happened at his home.”
Mhlongo said Zuma should pay back the money because once he retires he would inherit everything on the homestead in the KwaNxamalala village. “Those that want Zuma to step down don’t know what they’re talking about. We, his supporters, are the ones who will say when he must step down.”
Meanwhile, the South African Presidency rejected claims that President Jacob Zuma recently visited the United Arab Emirates to drop off R6bn belonging to the Gupta family.
Economic Freedom Front leader Julius Malema on Thursday said Zuma visited Dubai unofficially to “dump money” for the politically-connected Guptas. In a statement, the presidency on Saturday said the allegations were “preposterous and malicious”.
“Mr Malema’s allegation has no basis in fact. President Zuma recently concluded successful visits to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates to strengthen bilateral trade and economic relations between South Africa and the two countries respectively.
“Mr Malema’s malicious allegations are both untruthful and defamatory. The Presidency reserves its rights in this regard.” — Sapa
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