#ItWasNeverJacobZuma: Corruption an ANC staple, argues Twitter

Many South Africans were, without a doubt, thrilled when Jacob Zuma stepped down from office on 14 February 2018, paving the way for a new era in national politics; one which people thought would be free of corruption, or, at least, one which promised greater levels of accountability.

From the arms deal to state capture and the unforgettable Nkandla debacle, Zuma’s name has proven to be synonymous with corruption and while some of the aforementioned are still under legal scrutiny, it appears that recent events have prompted South Africans to wonder if JZ really was the really essential driver of dubious activity in government.

‘The ANC is just corrupt’

People are unquestionably at their wits end over allegations of corruption and fraud, which have, once again, become one of the main talking points in recent days – particularly in the wake of reports that Presidency spokesperson Khusela Diko’s husband was irregularly awarded a multimillion rand tender to provide personal protective equipment, to name but a few.

Twitter has been awash with the hashtag #ItWasNeverJacobZuma on the morning of Thursday, 30 July 2020, with some asserting that the former president was never the ultimate bad guy he was portrayed to be and that he had actually been a much better option than his successor.

“We have started to see that President J. Zuma was trying to protect South Africans, but South Africa and the Media crucified him, fun thing most South Africans still blame him”, said on tweet.

While others said the problem was not just Ramaphosa and Zuma, but the ANC as a whole.

“…but by saying it was never JZ doesn’t automatically make his administration free of corruption, I fail to fathom these justifications regarding misconduct in the ANC. South Africans need to do better before it’s late”, said another Twitter user.

Ramaphosa vs Zuma: Two peas in a corrupt pod?

In addition to being accused of being weak in the fight against corruption, Ramaphosa himself has been accused of sticking his hands in the cookie jar – despite having a reported net worth of $450 million, which is more money than some Hollywood movie execs have made in their lifetime (Clint Eastwood and Tom Hanks – yes, we checked). It’s certainly more money than any politician, corrupt or not, could make in their lifetime.

Putting aside the R1 billion donated to Ramaphosa’s associates ‘donated’, there was also the R500 000 ‘donation’ from Bosasa, a scandal-plagued company which is accused of handing out bribes in exchange for lucrative government contracts.

On the other hand, there’s Zuma, who is accused of aiding the controversial Gupta family loot billions of rands from the state and also pocketing hundreds of payments linked to the arms deal back in 1999, when he was the KwaZulu-Natal Economic Development MEC.