President Thabo Mbeki will face questions in the National Assembly on Thursday afternoon and there is intense speculation he will break his silence on allegations of corruption surrounding Deputy President Jacob Zuma.
Until now Mbeki has avoided commenting both on the allegations that Zuma solicited a R500 000 bribe in connection with the multibillion-rand arms deal and the ongoing fight between the deputy president and National Director of Public Prosecutions Bulelani Ngcuka.
Democratic Alliance leader Tony Leon will ask whether “in the light of the impact of corruption allegations against the deputy president on the reputation of the presidency, the government and the country as a whole, he has asked or intends asking the deputy president to stand down until the allegations are refuted and the deputy president is exonerated of any wrongdoing, and whether he intends relieving the deputy president of responsibility for the moral regeneration campaign”.
DA national chairperson Joe Seremane commented that Mbeki should use the opportunity afforded by question time “to break his silence on the arms deal and the deputy president’s alleged role in possible corruption”.
Seremane told the National Assembly on Wednesday that the president had remained “disturbingly silent”, adding that the investigation into alleged corruption in the arms deal “has degenerated into an acrimonious no-holds-barred fight between factions in the ruling party — the Zuma camp against supporters of the national director of public prosecutions”.
He said that to restore faith in his government, the president should acknowledge that it would be appropriate that the deputy president step down until he clears his name. This is consistent with the case of former deputy minister of social development David Malatsi.
Seremane also suggested that Mbeki express full confidence in Ngcuka and reaffirm the independence of the national directorate, which he described as constitutionally entrenched. Mbeki should also “welcome, and not discourage, further interrogation of the arms deal by Parliament”.
Mbeki will also faces a question from Independent African Movement leader Theresa Millin, who will ask whether he discussed with United States President George Bush in July 2003 the possibility of elections being held in Zimbabwe in 2004. — I-Net Bridge