Knives are out for Jacob Zuma as South Africa's Guptagate grows

When South Africa’s ruling party no longer wanted Thabo Mbeki to be head of state after allegations he had abused his power, the former president had the “decency” to exit gracefully, senior ANC sources say. But no one expects Jacob Zuma to do the same. “Zuma will cling on by his fingernails because of all these people who stand to lose out if he leaves,” said one party leader, adding: “This man must be held to account for what he did to the ANC.” Pressure has been mounting on the South African president this week amid fresh claims about his close ties to a wealthy business family, the Guptas, who are said to wield extraordinary power over the affairs of state – offering around cabinet positions to make sure their business interests are protected. Jacob Zuma denies influence of wealthy Gupta family in South African cabinet Read more On Thursday Zuma had the opportunity to distance himself from Guptas ahead of this weekend’s meeting of the ANC’s most senior leadership, the National Executive Committee (NEC), when he answered questions on the scandal in parliament. He was expected to address a claim by the deputy finance minister, Mcebisi Jonas, that the Guptas had offered him the finance minister’s post shortly before Zuma fired the incumbent, Nhlanhla Nene. But instead, the president said it had nothing to do with him. “Don’t ask me. Ask the Guptas or Jonas. I have no business with that,” he said. Zuma insisted that no ministers had been appointed by the Guptas. “I am in charge. No minister was ever appointed by the Guptas or anyone else. I appoint the ministers.” Yet the allegations have continued. Today the former head of Eskom, South Africa’s state electricity company, said his exit had been engineered by the Guptas. “They called me and said they will have me fired because I am not playing the game. I was forced to resign shortly after that,” Zola Tsotsi told the weekly Mail & Guardian. Advertisement Former ANC MP Vytjie Mentor has also said that the Guptas offered her the job of public enterprises minister, replacing then minister Barbara Hogan. Hogan has outlined how she was pressurised to favour an airline company linked to the Guptas while in the post. Cabinet minister Ngoako Ramatlhodi has confirmed he was invited to dinner by the Guptas while he was mineral resources minister. He declined, and was later moved out of the position to make way for the inexperienced Mosebenzi Zwane, who has close links to the family. Zuma’s decision to dismiss all these claims rather than condemning his wealthy allies has put the ANC in a difficult position. “I hate to admit it but [opposition leader] Julius [Malema] is right,” said another prominent ANC member. “Zuma does not deserve the respect due to a president.” He added that he was so angry about how Zuma had allowed the Guptas to control his presidency that he could not bear to greet him anymore. A leader in South Africa’s ruling alliance said he had tried to speak to Zuma about the Guptas and advised him to end the relationship. “He just laughs and says ‘Don’t worry Baba. It is being handled.’ I don’t know what that means.” Asked what happens now, the alliance leader said “Well he must face what’s coming”. The question is, what is coming? Asked whether Zuma could be recalled at this weekend’s executive meeting, the influential ANC secretary general Gwede Mantashe answered with a technicality: No ANC member has asked him to put a recall on the agenda, Mantashe said. But his further responses offer an insight into how the ANC will deal with the matter: “The ANC has a capability and capacity to deal with issues. … We have a responsibility and a duty to ensure that the ANC cannot be dragged down,” he said. Members of the ANC women’s league, said to support Zuma. Facebook Twitter Pinterest Members of the ANC women’s league, whose representatives support Zuma. Photograph: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images Mantashe also encouraged more ANC members to come forward. “If people have experiences they must come to the ANC. We’ll listen very carefully. We’ll deal with the broader picture. We are refusing to be narrow in dealing with this matter because it is bigger than this one incident.” Advertisement Some ANC members suggest that Mantashe’s office should be mandated to investigate Gupta contagion in the ANC and the state. Others believe that a special tribunal should be set up for ANC members to come forward with information on attempts to corrupt them. The South African Communist party, part of the governing alliance, has called for an investigation and a judicial commission of inquiry into “growing evidence of the manipulation of political appointments by the Gupta family”.. With the political fallout intensifying, the Guptas have further enraged the party by claiming that the allegations against them are “political point scoring between rival factions within the ANC”. Mantashe said this showed the Guptas’ disrespect for the ruling party. “It is arrogance to the superlative degree of a family that believes that the ANC is nothing to them,” he said. “The ANC must not be blackmailed into inaction by being accused of being in a factional battle. It is not in a factional battle.” While Mantashe is expected to lead the charge against the Guptas at the NEC, he is unlikely to be as forthright over the president’s role in this surrender of his powers. It will be up to the committee to take this on. While the executive committee was previously tipped heavily in Zuma’s favour, his support rests largely with the ANC Youth League, Women’s League and the military veterans association, as well as the so-called premier league faction. Other NEC members, including cabinet ministers, are being canvassed to speak out against Zuma and the Guptas. “The important thing is that we do not rush to get results. There cannot be a recall outcome this weekend. It is a process but in the end he [Zuma] will go,” said one source. “Gwede’s approach is to give you a long rope to hang yourself,” he added. Another ANC member believes that treasurer general Zweli Mkhize, a close ally of Zuma’s, will try to broker a deal for harsh action against the Guptas and no action against the president. As he had done repeatedly, Zuma is washing his hands of culpability and denies knowing what the Guptas were doing. While his allies might buy Zuma some time, a surge of anger from ANC structures and the public, as well as the pending Constitutional Court ruling on the use of taxpayers money to fund his home in Nkandla, will keep up the pressure. Mantashe has made the point that it was a lot more complicated for the ANC to deal with Zuma than had been the case in the dispute with Mbeki. When the executive recalled Mbeki he was no longer a serving leader in the party. “Here we are talking about the president of the ANC who is the president of the republic. Remember that you are dealing with two people in one,” Mantashe said. Analysis South Africa playing a high-stakes game as president and treasury square off Richard Calland Read more It will be extremely difficult for the ANC to act against its senior most leader, particularly in an election year. There are some fears that the opposition would exploit this, pointing out the ANC’s leadership weaknesses. However, there are also concerns about how much damage Zuma is doing to the ANC and the impact on the party’s electoral base. Zuma has survived numerous scandals by getting others to take the fall for him or denying responsibility for wrongdoing. From his performance in parliament on Thursday, he clearly wants to adopt the same approach now. But he has lost political capital and credibility and is also clearly vested in the Gupta business empire. His refusal to acknowledge that his friends have compromised him and the integrity of the state points to his dependence on the relationship with the Guptas. The ANC is now faced with one of the biggest decisions in its 104-year history – whether to put up with the Zuma-Gupta contagion or can purge itself of the poison. Either way, the party will bleed. But it must face the fact that it canot rely of its electoral dominance forever.

Share: