Parliament - President Jacob Zuma flatly contradicted his deputy, Cyril Ramaphosa, in Parliament on Tuesday, denying the government is at war with itself.
Ramaphosa has repeatedly called for “decorum” and coherence from state actors following a bizarre sequence of events in recent weeks in which Mineral Resources Minister Mosebenzi Zwane claimed the cabinet had resolved to institute a judicial inquiry into a decision by the country’s major banks to close the accounts of companies owned by the Gupta family.
The Presidency subsequently denounced this statement as having been issued in Zwane’s personal capacity, but the minister stuck to his guns in Parliament last week, earning the wrath of the governing ANC, which said he had been arrogant and defiant.
Zwane’s statement rattled the markets and fuelled perceptions that tension in the ANC over the alleged “capture” of Zuma and certain ministers by the Guptas was making it impossible for them to govern.
The ANC, Cosatu and the SACP have called on Zuma to act against Zwane, and he announced on Tuesday that he had been “engaging” with the minister over his statement.
However, in response to a question from DA leader Mmusi Maimane on the deputy president’s view that there was a war in government, Zuma said “You ask Ramaphosa”.
It was merely a perception, he said, adding that if individuals made “statements about whatever” - referring to Zwane - “I don’t think we should balloon that and say there is a war”.
He also denied there was a fight between himself and the Treasury over the governance of state-owned companies, as has been speculated following confirmation that controversial SAA chairperson Dudu Myeni, who is close to Zuma, has been returned to the position despite a disastrous tenure and reluctance on the part of Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan to reappoint her.
Zuma said this had been a cabinet decision and he had not even been in the country at the time.
He also disputed that the ANC had been punished in the local government elections because of the scandals surrounding him.
It was not true that people had lost confidence in the governing party, Zuma said, saying the combined vote for opposition parties was “a very small percentage”, despite the ANC slipping to its lowest percentage nationally since the first democratic elections.
Its 53.91 percent of total proportional representation and ward council votes left the combined opposition on 46.09 percent.
It also lost control of the Tshwane, Joburg and Nelson Mandela Bay metros, prompting ANC leaders to call for introspection from the party to understand where it went wrong and calls from prominent ANC leaders and a number of branches for Zuma to go.
But an unruffled Zuma said on Tuesday that no party had won the metros in question and it was only through coalitions that the ANC was kept out.
This didn’t support the claim that the result showed a loss of confidence in the ANC.
Coalitions were a sign that democracy was working, Zuma said.
He ended his question session with a complaint that whenever he came to Parliament he was subjected to abuse, after EFF leader Julius Malema led his MPs out of the chamber before Zuma began answering questions, saying they would return when “the thief” had finished speaking.
He said such behaviour would make it difficult for him to fulfil his constitutional obligation to be accountable to Parliament, adding that if MPs didn’t want him to answer questions, “don’t call me”.
Political Bureau