President Jacob Zuma has perfected the crime of corruption, Democratic Alliance leader Mmusi Maimane said on Saturday.
Addressing a public meeting in New Brighton in the Nelson Mandela Bay metro, ahead of by-elections scheduled for November 9, he said corruption in all its forms ate away at the possibility of job creation and service delivery.
“Corruption is not a ‘victimless crime’ or a ‘Western paradigm’ as once stated by a man who leaves a trail of lies, deceit, and corruption wherever he goes. This trail of lies, deceit, and corruption can be defined by two words – state capture.
“President Jacob Zuma has perfected the crime of corruption by ensuring that the institutions tasked with uncovering and prosecuting against corruption are headed by yes-men and women who have no regard for the Constitution, the rule of law, and you, the people of South Africa,†Maimane said.
“We’re not surprised when there’s corruption and the name Jacob Zuma comes up, because he is the same man who started his first term in office, seven years ago, with 783 counts of money laundering, racketeering, and corruption hanging over his ‘ugly head of impunity’.â€
In the past seven years Zuma had captured the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA); a long list of strategic state-owned companies; he dismantled the corruption-busting Scorpions and replaced it with the political hit squad called the Hawks; Zuma’s executive had turned Parliament into a lapdog; he was currently trying to capture the keys to the National Treasury; and his latest act of corruption was to compromise the constitutionally mandated public protector so that the “final report†into state capture never saw the light of day.
The independence and credibility of the NPA waned every day as its national director Shaun Abrahams turned it into the “JPA†– Jacob’s Personal Assistant. This body was now tasked with eliminating those who worked to remove Zuma’s death grip on the state, Maimane said.
Zuma had corrupted the state and captured its institutions that fought corruption, for his own nefarious means.
“President Zuma has for too long undermined efforts to hold him accountable by showing disdain for the judiciary and its many damning judgments against him. He has also tried, after being investigated by the former public protector adv [Thuli] Madonsela, to disregard the authority of the office of the public protector by referring to it as an ‘ombudsman’. This man is dangerous for our fragile democracy.
“As the DA, whether in government or opposition, we need to remain vigilant in the fight for accountability, transparency, and the rule of law. If not, the fight against corruption will be severely compromised because it is only the DA that has consistently championed and supported efforts to stop corruption,†he said.
– African News Agency (ANA)
