President Cyril Ramaphosa might hope to put as much distance as possible between the ANC and state capture when he appears before the Zondo commission this week. But he would be lying if he tried.
An ANC president, Jacob Zuma, was captured, and by extension so was the whole organisation — to such an extent that remnants of that captured core continue to fight to regain control of their vehicle for accumulation.
To those at the heart of state capture, the ANC was that vehicle — which is why one of state capture’s prime beneficiaries, Duduzane Zuma, has raised his hand as a future party president.
It explains why Ace Magashule will not step aside; why Zuma père attends every single ANC national executive committee (NEC) meeting; why the Gupta brothers contributed financially to the party; and why they had a material stake in every one of its elective conferences, so much so that in the run-up to Nasrec in 2017 they ran stories punting Zuma’s preferred candidate, Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma, and denigrating Ramaphosa.
Herein lies the significance of Ramaphosa’s appearance this week: he will be grilled in his capacity as ANC president, which means a distinction is being made between the current party and the one run by Zuma, who refuses to be held accountable. Ramaphosa is sending out a message to citizens and his party that even though the ANC is seen as "accused No 1", under his leadership it is willing to be held to account — in stark contrast to how things were under his predecessor.
Former secretary-general Gwede Mantashe, now the party chair, was at pains to point out when being grilled on the ANC’s deployment policy at the commission that the ANC was not "on trial". Similarly, ANC deputy secretary-general Jessie Duarte told Eyewitness News that the commission took a "jaundiced view of the ANC" and that "no other party had to do what the ANC had to do" before the commission.
Duarte is correct that the commission views the party with a jaundiced eye; of course it would
They are both 100% right and wrong — no, the ANC is not on trial, simply because the commission is not prosecutorial but inquisitorial in nature. But Mantashe is wrong if he thinks the ANC does not deserve aggressive moral scrutiny. He admitted that the party’s integrity commission recommended Zuma’s removal as far back as 2013, after the Guptas flew in their wedding guests via the Waterkloof base.
Duarte is correct that the commission views the party with a jaundiced eye; of course it would — the ANC was at the heart of the capture project.
The Guptas could not have accomplished what they did had they captured the DA’s Helen Zille or the UDM’s Bantu Holomisa. The ANC cannot divorce itself from the actions of its president, the cabinet or its own leaders, many of whom failed to speak out during the capture years out of fear or complicity.
The answer to the burning question of whether Ramaphosa — as ANC deputy president — ever called out Zuma for his conduct should be answered this week. We know Ramaphosa played a key role in preventing Brian Molefe from being appointed finance minister when Zuma axed Pravin Gordhan for a second time, and that he was instrumental in appointing a new Eskom board early in 2018 when cleaning up the utility’s governance structures was crucial.
This week will be hugely significant for the ANC — it will become clear if Ramaphosa can lead the party in making a clean break with the past and holding its suspect leaders to account. The ANC may yet be saved if Ramaphosa demonstrates brutal honesty at the commission, and if the NEC enforces the recommendation of the integrity commission that Magashule step aside by Friday.
Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.