Zuma’s release on remission shows Ramaphosa was dishonest about it from the outset

11 August 2023

The remission that President Cyril Ramaphosa approved former President Jacob Zuma demonstrates his dishonesty regarding the matter, because he evaded a direct question from the FF Plus about the possibility of pardoning Zuma two years ago.

I asked the President, in February 2021 after delivering his SONA, whether he would secure Zuma's release through a presidential pardon.

He sidestepped the question, and I told him that his refusal to reply meant that it was indeed on the cards, especially after the visit that the Minister of Police, Bheki Cele, paid to Zuma at his home in Nkandla at the time.

What has played out now only proves that I was right. All this time, a presidential pardon was kept as the last resort in case the other plans to wangle Zuma's release, such as granting him an early release on parole for a so-called medical condition, were to fail.

It also demonstrates that the remission of 9 000 other criminals' sentences is merely part of the plan to accommodate one person.

Given the serious crime problem in South Africa, it is a slap in the face of law-abiding citizens who are severely affected by crime to see how thousands of criminals are granted an early release just to accommodate Zuma.

If the President had not been considering a pardon, he could have been honest about it by saying outright that it was not going to happen. I made it very clear in February 2021 already that in the FF Plus's view, pardoning Zuma would be totally unacceptable.

This is sending out the wrong message. It demonstrates that the ANC is willing to walk all over ordinary citizens, and is indifferent to their rights and safety, just to keep a cadre out of prison.

Recent events have clearly shown that the world is keeping a close eye on the country and especially the ANC government: from the interaction with the Russians to Julius Malema's rash statements about violence and questions about the President's silence on the matter.

Zuma's remission is further proof that the ANC is not a government for all the people of the country, and that the President puts the ANC above the country and its people.

Issued by Pieter Groenewald, FF Plus leader, 11 August 2023