Willing buyer, willing sellout

5 October 2017

Fellow democrats,

Today we are gathered here in Saxonwold to protest the capture of our country by Jacob Zuma, his ANC, and the Gupta Family.

Our message is clear: we reject the capture of our country by the rich and the corrupt, and we want real change. South Africa needs a new beginning, ushered in by a new government committed to fighting for the poor and the jobless, not the rich and the connected few.

We need a new government that is committed to our nation’s new struggle - the struggle for access to jobs.

And we demand accountability! The justice system must do its work so that those who have robbed our country are put behind bars.

Fellow South Africans,

Just a few hundred metres down the road from here is the Gupta’s mansion – the very site were Jacob Zuma and his ANC government were captured, and where they sold our country to the highest bidder.

Today we had planned to march to the gates of the mansion, to show South Africa what Jacob Zuma’s capture site really looks like.

But when they heard we were coming, the Guptas ran to their lawyers, who threatened to take us to court.

What do the Gupta’s have to hide? And why are they scared of us?

The truth is, they don’t want South Africa to see Jacob Zuma’s real capture site!

Democrats,

Just 24 hours ago, President Jacob Zuma attended the official unveiling of a multimillion rand monument in his honour, just outside of the small town of Groot Marico in the North West Province.

The monument, according to the President, was erected to commemorate the 1963 arrest of over 50 members of Umkhonto we Sizwe, who were en route to Botswana to take part in military training. Jacob Zuma was one of the members who were arrested.

At the entrance of the newly sprung monument stands an official sign which reads “Jacob Zuma’s Capture Site”.

Anyone who has picked up a newspaper, turned on a radio, or watched the evening news over the past year knows that there is a new “Jacob Zuma capture site” here in Saxonwold.

It is behind the high walls, electric fencing, and stringent private security of the Guptas mansion where many important decisions affecting our country are made. Where ministers are appointed and fired, where government contracts are signed, where national budgets are written, and where policy is decided.

Every decision made there is made guided by one criteria: make Jacob Zuma, his friends, and the Gupta rich.

The Gupta mansion is not only the capture site of Jacob Zuma, but several Cabinet Ministers too, including Malusi Gigaba, Faith Muthambi, Mosebenzi Zwane, Des Van Rooyen; as well as numerous top executives at State-Owned Entities such as Eskom, Transnet and Prasa.

The Gupta mansion is the real capture site of Jacob Zuma, and the headquarters of corruption in South Africa. How sad that a young man in 1963 willing to risk his life for a free South Africa, has allowed his own legacy to be defined by corruption and the selling-out of that struggle. Indeed, the struggle for democracy and freedom has been abandoned by Jacob Zuma and his ANC.

And while they get richer, South Africans are getting poorer.

Democrats, it has been months since the infamous “Gupta Leaks”, which implicate members of the Gupta family, the President, his cabinet, and senior officials and SOE executives. Yet they all walk free.

To this day, not one single person has been prosecuted for their crimes. We cannot continue to sweep this under the carpet. It’s time to fully expose the rot throughout government and the private sector.

It is vital that we establish a platform through which we can get to the very bottom of this matter. That is why I have called on the Speaker of Parliament to immediately establish an ad hoc committee into State Capture by no later than 31 October 2017. The Speaker has been put on notice, and if she fails to act, we will have no hesitation in approaching the Courts to ensure this matter is resolved.

You see, the Jacob Zuma of the past shares many similarities with the ANC of the past.

Both fought for freedom, both put the nation before self-interest, and in doing so, both won the trust and support of the majority of South Africans.

Today, like in the past, Jacob Zuma and the ANC share many similarities.

Both are captured by private interests, and operate for the benefit of itself and those connected few – instead of the country and its people.

Today the ANC, like Jacob Zuma, has resorted to divisive rhetoric and race-baiting to divide South Africa for its own selfish benefit.

And today, the ANC, like Jacob Zuma, has lost the trust and the support of the majority of South Africans. That is why come 2019, South Africans will use their power to vote out this corrupt ANC government at the ballot box, and choose a new beginning for our country.

The future of South lies in a post-ANC South Africa, free from corruption and State Capture, and focused on our nation’s new struggle - the struggle for access to jobs. Our fight is to ensure that all South Africans can enter the economy, find meaningful work, and create a better life for themselves and their loved ones.

Issued by Mmusi Maimane, Leader of the Democratic Alliance, 5 October 2017