‘Don’t be fooled, state capture still flourishing under Ramaphosa’, says Zille

Democratic Alliance (DA) federal council chair Helen Zille says she “laughed out loud” after hearing President Cyril Ramaphosa’s promise to end state capture and corruption.

Ramaphosa delivered the ANC’s January 8 statement during the party’s 110th birthday celebrations at the Old Peter Mokaba Stadium in Polokwane, Limpopo on Saturday.

‘State capture was not a Zuma thing’

During the celebrations, the ANC president spoke of a number of issues, including the Commission of Inquiry into Allegations of State Capture’s report.

He indicated that one of the ANC’s goals as part of its renewal process was to end state capture, saying the party “will support government in instituting measures required to eliminate the conditions and conduct which enable state capture and corruption”.

But Zille believes otherwise, suggesting that state capture is still “flourishing” even under Ramaphosa’s tenure, and was not “a Zuma thing”.

“One of the most significant aspects to emerge from the ANC’s deployment committee minutes is the fact that they reveal that state capture was not a Zuma thing.

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“State capture, through the ANC’s deployment committee, remains in full swing, under the Presidency of Cyril Ramaphosa.

“That is why I laughed out loud when I heard our president promise an end to state capture in the ANC’s January 8 statement. He clearly has no idea what the concept is,” she said in a Facebook post.

The DA federal chair said Ramaphosa should disband the ANC’s deployment committee if he was serious about ending state capture.

“So don’t be fooled when the President says he wants to end “state capture. It is flourishing under his tenure,” Zilla added.

Zille further said Ramaphosa should disband the ANC’s deployment committee if he was serious about ending state capture.

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‘ANC is not corrupt’

In the commission’s 874-page report, Zondo expressed concern over the link between political party financing and the corrupt granting of tenders, particularly referring to donations made to the ANC.

He used evidence heard at the commission as example, which revealed that Bosasa – which scored government tenders – made donations to the ANC.

The report recommended that provisions be added to the Political Party Funding Act (PPFA) “to prevent, expose and criminalise such activity” because the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) “cannot deal with this problem alone”.

READ MORE: ANC not ‘complicit’ in state capture, says Ramaphosa

Ramaphosa, meanwhile, dismissed the perception that the ANC was a corrupt party.

“No so much in the party. Let me make it clear because people make the linkage they say the ANC is corrupt. We must correct that and say no, it is not the ANC that is corrupt.

“Certain people have done certain corrupt things.

“It is all these stories that go around that there are people who participated in corruption.

“All that is verified through a type of Zondo report and many other reports that can confirm whether certain people have participated,” he said during an interview with SABC News.