Deputy Finance Minister Mcebisi Jonas
Opposition parties, civil groups and South African citizens have responded with outrage to a shock statement wherein Deputy Finance Minister Mcebisi Jonas claimed that he was offered a ministerial job by the Gupta family.
Criminal charges have been laid, calls for resignation abound and sides are becoming increasingly polarised following Jonas’s announcement that the Zuma-connected Gupta family asked him if he would like to replace then-finance minister Nhlanhla Nene.
Democratic Alliance
Democratic Alliance (DA) spokesperson for finance David Maynier said that Jonas’s admission amounted to “prima facie evidence of corrupt activities.”
“I will therefore lay charges against Atul Gupta, Ajay Gupta, Duduzane Zuma and any other persons who were present at the time the offer was made,” said Maynier in a statement. “This matter goes to the heart of the corruption in South Africa.”
Mmusi Maimane, parliamentary leader of the DA, echoed the sentiment of his colleague. “President Zuma’s position is becoming increasingly untenable. He, and the ANC, need to consider whether he should resign from office, or be recalled,” he said in a statement.
Congress of the People
Congress of the People (Cope) spokesperson Dennis Bloem made a similar assertion. “The Congress of the People will be laying charges of treason and corruption against President Jacob Zuma and members of the Gupta family on Thursday,” he said. This will reportedly take place at the Brooklyn, Pretoria police station.
Corruption Watch
Watchdog group Corruption Watch said that “the ongoing controversy between President Jacob Zuma and the Gupta family is a betrayal of South Africans’ trust”. It called for an immediate investigation into all allegations implicating the Gupta family in activities that hinted at an attempt to influence state control.
The group’s executive director David Lewis said that the core of the problem, however, “is not be found in the Saxonwold compound of the Guptas, but rather in the president’s office in the Union Buildings.
“The trust of the South African public has been grievously betrayed,” he said.
Gwede Mantashe
However, ANC Secretary-General Gwede Mantashe said that the event was a positive one for the ruling party. “We are heartened by the fact that, at the end of the day, [Mcebisi] has come out and explained the situation,” said Mantashe. “It is actually a positive development for the ANC, because when we met in January we raised the issue of the threat of corporate capture.”
Equal Education
But Equal Education said they regarded the “state capture” of South Africa as nothing less than a mortal threat to democracy. “State capture is not tenderpreneurship. We are far beyond that,” it said. “A tenderpreneur bribes a party or government official to land a state contract. But this is an order of magnitude different [from that].” The organisation called for the Gupta family to be jailed for decades.
Barbara Hogan
This morning, former public enterprise minister and former ANC MP Barbara Hogan told 702 talk radio that she was not surprised by the revelations made deputy finance minister Mcebisi Jonas on Wednesday.
She said that while she was a minister she was pressured to meet with Gupta-linked business Jet Airways, but refused.
The ANC has not yet responded to this allegation.
Hogan, an anti-apartheid activist and wife of ANC stalwart Ahmed Kathrada, resigned from her cabinet post in 2010. She said she encourages the ANC to “deal with the rot cleverly and decisively”.
Economic Freedom Fighters
The Economic Freedom Fighters said it was ‘vindicated’ by Jonas’s statement. “On 10 March 2016, the EFF reported to the people of South Africa that the Gupta family is directly responsible for the firing of Nhlanhla Nene as Minister of Finance. The EFF further confirmed that the Guptas offered the Deputy Minister of Finance, Mcebisi Jonas, the cabinet post of finance minister to replace Nhlanhla Nene,” the party said on Wednesday night.
“Today, Mcebisi Jonas confirmed what the EFF had already reported that the Gupta family had offered him a job of Finance Minister, which vindicates the EFF from attempts by the Guptas to portray us as rumour mongers.”
The EFF said the family posed a threat to the country’s sovereignty.
South African Communist Party
The South African Communist Party, a member of the ruling party’s tripartite alliance, also moved to support Mcebisi. “The SACP congratulates Comrade Mcebisi Jonas for refusing the offer, and for coming out against the malady of corporate state capture,” it said in a statement late on Wednesday.
“The SACP further invites other comrades with similar experiences to come out, take their cue from Comrade Mcebisi Jonas, speak out and join the revolutionary determination to stop the danger of corporate state capture.”
State capture is the term used to describe private interests influencing the State’s decision-making processes. The SACP called on the ruling party to take charge of efforts to eliminate the phenomenon.
“As the SACP we are further calling on our movement and the alliance, as led by the ANC, to take categorical steps to terminate poisonous relationships such as corporate state capture and its twin evil, rent-seeking,” the statement said.
“The SACP is looking forward to our movement defending its revolutionary values as epitomised by the stance taken by Comrade Mcebisi Jonas and ensuring that no victimisation in any form takes place.”
Guptas
The Gupta family has emphatically denied claims of job offers made to top ANC leaders at their Saxonwold home. The family has labeled Jonas’ statement as another political witch hunt by factions within the ruling party.
President Zuma is expected to this afternoon answer questions in the National Assembly about whether he was influenced when making the decision swap finance ministers in December.
– ANA, News24 & official statement from parties (edited by Thalia Holmes)