President Jacob Zuma has again furiously defended his ill-fated appointment of Des van Rooyen as Finance Minister, lamenting how he was condemned even by his ANC comrades for his appointment of “the best candidate”.
During a week in which it emerged how Van Rooyen’s short-lived appointment cost the country’s economy billions of rand in his first two days in office, Zuma said the appointment of Van Rooyen showed that a “black person would suffer until he dies”.
In the wake of Van Rooyen’s appointment, the stock market lost R230 billion in value and the bond market R217bn, equal to between 10 and 15 percent of the economy, according to this week’s revelations.
However, Zuma appears neither swayed nor interested if his comments on Friday are anything to go by.
He heaped praise on Van Rooyen, saying “in December last year, I appointed in the Finance Ministry a well-trained cadre of the ANC, Des van Rooyen, in the financial affairs. He was the best candidate to take over the control of the economy.
“Instead, I was castigated worldwide - including by senior members of the organisation. I then realised I had touched the wrong nerve. I was told I never consulted before making the appointment. I said to myself, Africa my beginning, Africa my ending’.”
Zuma added: “South Africa is the only country in the world which does not control its own economy.”
In his view, the negative reaction to the appointment of Van Rooyen showed that a black “person would suffer until he dies”.
It was not the first time Zuma had endorsed Van Rooyen ahead of the incumbent Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan. Zuma also appeared not to be bothered by reports that the short-lived appointment cost the country’s economy approximately R500bn.
Parliament also heard this week that the Public Investment Corporation (PIC), which governs government pensions, lost almost R100bn.
Zuma made an indirect appeal to his party’s supporters in Gauteng to stay away from his own political troubles and to rather focus on winning the upcoming local government elections with a landslide victory.
He tried to depict himself as a victim of his political foes, including members of his own party who are resisting all his attempts to gain control of the country’s economy.
The embattled Zuma was delivering what was supposed to be a keynote address at Gauteng’s ANC provincial general council meeting in Pretoria on Friday night, when he also made a failed bid to convince the provincial ANC not to discuss calls for him to step down.
The calls followed a damning Constitutional Court ruling against him on March 31, which found he had violated his oath of office.
Initially, the Gauteng ANC made its pronouncement last month and was viciously attacked by pro-Zuma provinces such as KwaZulu-Natal, the Free State and the North West.
Despite the fierce criticism, it did not prevent Gauteng provincial chairman Paul Mashatile reiterating their stance - this time in the presence of Zuma.
“We appreciate your being here, as this will provide you with an opportunity to better comprehend the issues we face on a daily basis in Gauteng.
“Your attendance is also important because when we in Gauteng pronounce on some issues, we are wrongly perceived as being anti-Zuma’.
“As the leadership of the ANC in Gauteng, we would like to be categorical that we are not against the ANC president, but we always deal with issues on the basis of principle.
“For that matter, we discuss issues openly and without fear or favour, and when difficult matters come to the fore we do not bury our heads in the sand. Instead, we confront them head-on. This constitutes the distinguishing feature of our province,” Mashatile said.
He reiterated that his provincial executive committee members had accepted Zuma’s apology but were still of the view “the president must reflect on this matter and do the right thing”.
Mashatile said it was the duty of their delegates at the council to convince them otherwise and to bring the matter to finality.
“We are guided, at all times, by the commitment to serve our people,” he said.
But Zuma, in his reaction to Mashatile, called on his party members to unite around the ANC and to ensure all the provinces achieve majority votes during the local government elections on August 3.
Zuma called on the Gauteng ANC to increase its electoral support in all municipalities, saying a greater majority would allow them to take effective control of state power.
He also made a shocking remark that South Africa was flooded with a number of international private and commercial security companies who were serving security interests and spying for their countries while based in South Africa.
“They have set up their own intelligence apparatus in our country. So, for us it is important to gain political power to allow us to control our economy and our security,” he said.
He added that all ANC provinces must ensure all the municipalities fall under its control to monitor the conduct of commercial security companies.
Political Bureau