Deputy President Jacob Zuma should not resign but rather submit to an investigation to clear his name and allow the law to “run its course without any interference”, the Democratic Alliance (DA) said in a statement on Monday.
The official opposition called on Zuma to open his financial affairs to a forensic audit following the Mail&Guardian’s report that he is being investigated for soliciting a R500 000 bribe in the arms procurement package.
“The DA is not calling for Deputy President Zuma to resign or step down — even though this was the infantile response of the ANC and NNP when there were unsubstantiated allegations of unethical conduct against Gerald Morkel,” the party said.
The M&G reported last week that the Scorpions were investigating Zuma for allegedly accepting a bribe from French defence giant Thomson-CSF to influence the investigation into the arms deal. The bribe was also allegedly paid to ensure permanent support from Zuma for future projects of the company.
Thomson-CSF, now known as Thales, was part of the German Frigate Consortium that successfully bid for a R6-billion contract to supply the South African Navy with four new corvette warships.
Zuma’s office dismissed the allegations as “baseless, mischievous and unfortunate”, denying any involvement. His representative, Lakela Kaunda said Zuma was far removed from the arms process.
The DA said that merely “being on the verbal defensive is woefully insufficient”.
“These serious allegations raise questions of potential unethical and criminal conduct — questions which, if proven, could make a mockery out of Mr Zuma’s leadership of the government’s moral regeneration campaign.”
“The law must be allowed to run its course, irrespective of the person under investigation. In the case of Deputy President Zuma it is important that the audit and the Scorpions probe every aspect of these allegations without fear, favour or prejudice and without any attempts at undue influence or obstruction on the part of government,” the DA said.