Johannesburg - The leader of the Democratic Alliance (DA) Mmusi Maimane has labelled the African National Congress (ANC) as “morally bankrupt” after the ruling party said at the weekend that it had full confidence in President Jacob Zuma.
This after the ANC held a three-day national executive committee meeting at St George Hotel in Pretoria.
“The ANC NEC's 'special resolution' on the Gupta-Zuma state capture, is simply a defense of President Zuma and an attack on anyone who questions his fitness for office,” said Maimane in a statement released on Tuesday.
“Their decision to defend Zuma confirms that the ANC and Jacob Zuma are two sides of the same coin: both morally bankrupt and both taking South Africa backward.”
Last week Zuma had come under heavy criticism from opposition parties after a former ANC MP, Vytjie Mentor, claimed that she had been offered a cabinet minister position by the President's friends, the Gupta family, provided she was willing to divert business their way.
Mentor said she turned down the unlawful proposition.
Both Zuma and the Guptas rejected the claim as unfounded, with the President saying he had “no recollection” of Mentor.
Deputy finance minister, Mcebisi Jonas, and Themba Maseko former head of the Government Communication and Information System have also made similar claims, which the Guptas have denied.
Maseko claimed he was told by the Guptas to help them channel government advertising funding to their newspaper, The New Age. On Thursday, Zuma told opposition leaders in parliament to refer any queries on such matters to the complainants and the Guptas. The ANC has since invited people with similar complaints to meet with the party's Secretary General Gwede Mantashe.
Reacting to the ANC decision to back Zuma after the NEC meeting, Maimane on Tuesday said: “While the ANC should have used this NEC meeting as an opportunity to recall President Zuma, the NEC chose rather to honour him with a standing ovation and a special resolution of support, indicating that for the ANC - its cronyism first, and the people of South Africa last”.
The DA leader said the press conference that followed the meeting, there was no recognition that Zuma had allowed and even willfully encouraged the “capture of the state by the Guptas”.
Maimane said the outcome of the meeting served to illustrate that “South Africa cannot be saved from within the ANC”.
He said the only way to change South Africa was to vote the ANC out of government.
“The ANC has degenerated into a crony network that has long forgotten the people of this country,” said the DA leader. “
In this year's local government elections, the people of South Africa have the chance to reject the ANC by voting for Freedom, Fairness, and Opportunity.”
African News Agency