DA gunning for Ramaphosa over ‘ongoing role in state capture’

The Democratic Alliance (DA) is setting its sights on having President Cyril Ramaphosa account for cadre deployment and the role he played in state capture, during his predecessor Jacob Zuma’s tumultuous tenure, when he was deputy.

The DA said its lawyers have submitted questions to the state capture commission on Ramaphosa’s central and ongoing role in the great state capture project.

“…including as head of the ANC’s cadre deployment committee between 2014 and 2018 and as ANC president and SA president now. To end state capture, Ramaphosa must answer for his role in cadre deployment,” leader John Steenhuisen said.

Zuma is alleged to have orchestrated a massive looting spree of critical state institutions including Eskom, South African Airways (SAA) and the Passenger Rail Agency (Prasa), to name but a few – all with the help of the Gupta family, his son and fellow comrades in the ANC.

While Ramaphosa has presented himself as an anti-corruption champion, many people have wondered how active he was in either countering it or aiding it. To date, there’s not much linking the president to lucrative government contracts, however the latest personal protective equipment (PPE) scandal surrounding his spokesperson Khusela Diko as well as Bosasa’s R500 000 donation, have raised a few eyebrows.

Steenhuisen: State Capture will continue under Ramaphosa

The DA has now pointed out recent corruption revelations reported in the current news cycle, particularly R431 million which was allegedly spent towards deep cleaning schools in Gauteng and about R9 billion lost via the State Security Agency (SSA). According to the party, all these allegations of grand looting have the same root cause – cadre deployment.

Calling Ramaphosa the ‘Emperor of empty promises’ and ‘high king of hypocrisy,’ Steenhuisen referred to one of the president’s previous weekly newsletters, in which he said government was committed to “end the practice of poorly qualified individuals being parachuted into positions of authority through political patronage”

The DA leader said cadre deployment was as much Ramaphosa’s game as it was Zuma’s, hence state capture lives on long after the Gupta’s departure.

“Yet he has appointed corrupt, incapable DD Mabuza to head up SA’s vaccine programme. And redeployed Arthur Fraser and David Mahlobo, under whose watch R9 billion was stolen from the State Security Agency, to head Correctional Services and Human Settlements, respectively,” Steenhuisen further said.