By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
Former president Jacob Zuma on Saturday accused his successor, Cyril Ramaphosa, of corruption and committing treason following the robbery at his Phala Phala farm.
In a lengthy speech at a function in Sandton, Johannesburg, took swipes at several perceived foes, notably Ramaphosa and Chief Justice Raymond Zondo.
“Our country’s problems are too big for Ramaphosa to be hustling on the side through Phala Phala Farm sales. Ramaphosa conducting private business while holding a high office of being president of the country is in itself unconstitutional and nothing but corruption.”
“It is inconsistent with the oath of office taken by President and those who defend such deeds, both in the executive and the legislature, commit treason against our constitution. Suffice to say that your president has committed treason.
“I often wonder what the situation would have been if I was the one accused of having millions of dollars hidden under my mattress. I wonder what would have happened if that allegation came out of my Nkandla house,” Zuma said.
The scandal erupted in June after former national spy boss Arthur Fraser filed a police complaint, alleging that robbers broke into Ramaphosa’s Phala Phala farm, where they found and stole $4 million in cash hidden in furniture.
Fraser, who is an ally of Zuma, alleged that Ramaphosa concealed the robbery from police and the tax authorities, and instead organised the kidnapping and questioning of the robbers, and then bribed them into silence.
The president has acknowledged a burglary but denies the accusations of kidnapping and bribery, saying he reported the break-in to the police.
Zuma also took a swipe at Chief Justice Zondo that he has failed in his oath of office.
“That he is now at the helm of the judicial system should be a matter of concern. He was not a neutral judge leading a fact-finding commission, but rather a report of those who have been accused of state capture because of their association with me.”
“The state capture commission had no interest in uncovering how some former leaders, their families and their spouses accumulated their wealth – it was only interested in targeting a few individuals found guilty by the media,” Zuma said.
Zuma said he was wrongly jailed by Zondo.
“Chief Justice Zondo abused the powers of the Constitutional Court by having me sentenced to one year in prison without a trial. My crime was only to refuse to cooperate with an unlawful commission of inquiry.”
Zuma was slapped with a 15-month jail sentence when he was found guilty of contempt by the Constitutional Court (ConCourt) in June 2021.
He also said his administration, while he was in government, ended load shedding.
“In 2015 my government ended load shedding until I left office in 2018. This load shedding was stopped for three years in the time of professionals such as Brian Molefe and Matshela Koko.”
“Eskom was functioning and they were bringing electricity to villages. Eskom is now being surrendered to international commercial interests.
“Load shedding started immediately after certain agreements were concluded with Independent Power Producers and has never stopped since then. Why does the current leadership fail to get a handle on the issues at Eskom.
“It is public knowledge that a few of these power producers had invested millions into the campaign of one of the candidates at the 2017 Nasrec Conference,” Zuma said.
Meanwhile the day has dawned for Ramaphosa to submit his action plan for the implementation of the State Capture Commission inquiry’s 358 recommendations to Parliament.
In line with a court order, Ramaphosa was mandated to table the state capture report and his action plan to Parliament within four months of receiving it.
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Video Courtesy of SABC.