Open letter to President Ramaphosa – South Africa at a crossroads - The President’s choice between a dysfunctional ANC on the one hand, and South Africa on the other – It cannot be both!

12 July 2022

The letter below by Dries Wiese, Chairperson of the Afrikanerbond was sent to the office of President Ramaphosa yesterday.

The office of the president already acknowledged receipt of the letter.

Dear President Ramaphosa

When you received and publicly released the final Report into State Capture on 22 June 2022, you indicated that, “in line with the directive of the High Court, within four months from this date, I will formally present to Parliament the full report of the Commission together with an indication of my intentions on the implementation of the Commission’s recommendations.” 

The media highlighted the estimated cost of the state capture to be R57 billion. This amount was looted from the state coffers by the Gupta family and their followers, and they pocketed at least R15,5 billion themselves.

The Zondo report estimates that 97% of the R57 billion was looted from Transnet and Eskom (Rapport, 26 June 2022), amid continued maladministration and corruption in state departments and our local governments. As we draft this letter, South Africa is paying the price. We’re having to endure up to stage 6 loadshedding due to decades of maladministration, theft and sabotage at Eskom, a state-owned entity. 

The July 2021 unrest saw billions more looted and infrastructure vandalised by unruly mobs. To date, no satisfactory reasons or responses have been forthcoming with regard to the riots and looting, which also had their origins within deep ANC divisions and the arrest and imprisonment of Mr Jacob Zuma. Anarchy threatened our constitutional democracy, and the scale of unrest should have been prevented.

There is currently a massive trust deficit in South Africa. Civil society has lost trust in government, politicians, civil service and the police. This could have been addressed (at least partly) in the national consensus you promised in the State of the Nation Address (SONA) on 10 February 2022, which was supposed to have happened within 100 days of SONA – yet another broken promise.  

South Africans therefore have every right to be sceptical about your assurance of a response to the Zondo Commission’s recommendations within four months. It goes without saying that any action will have far-reaching implications for the ruling party itself, and for many leaders and public representatives within the ruling party.

It can never again be business as usual. As the ruling party, the ANC stands accused of gross violations against South Africa. It is no longer only about state capture, or corruption, or cadre deployment. The question now is whether South Africa can afford to keep the ANC, with its harmful ideologies and policies, as the ruling party. For far too long, leadership in the ANC - your predecessor included - has held the position that the ANC comes first. Leadership has consistently placed the ANC ahead of the country and the South African constitution. We have now seen the results of this untenable situation.

Another obstacle is the unconstitutional position of the ANC with a view to its collective responsibility. Our constitution demands accountability, responsibility and transparency. The ANC collective - its structures, representatives and leadership - stands accused of the current mess in which our country finds itself, and must therefore collectively accept blame for undermining our state order.

We firmly believe that you are now at a crossroads. Addressing the enormously damaging effects of state capture and considering the implementation of the Commission’s recommendations is crucial, not only from a financial standpoint, but also to address the trust deficit we are now facing.  You often point out that apartheid was a crime against humanity. In the same vein, it must be conceded that state capture, and the resultant unbridled corruption, is equally a crime against South Africa and its people. This can no longer be disputed.

We are of the firm opinion that in considering the recommendations made by Chief Justice Raymond Zondo, you will have to choose between South Africa and the ANC. Between the dysfunctional ANC alliance and the huge cost to the country of party unity on the one hand, and a successful and prosperous South Africa on the other. When it comes to a choice between salvaging the ANC alliance or saving the country, you cannot do both; not at this point in history, and not in light of South Africa’s torn and fragile state.

In your weekly newsletter of 27 Junie 2022 and with reference to state capture you said: “The immoral, unethical and criminal behaviour of self-serving individuals in positions of authority undermined the confidence of the people in the leaders and institutions that are meant to serve them. This has created a trust gap that will take some time to close.” This sentence implies that you know full well that the individuals to whom you are referring are either members and representatives of the ANC or closely aligned to the party.

You are reminded of the Oath of Office that you, as President of the Republic of South Africa, swore, namely “to be faithful to the Republic of South Africa, and [to] obey, observe, uphold and maintain the Constitution and all other law of the Republic”. You solemnly and sincerely promised that you would always: 

- “promote all that will advance the Republic, and oppose all that may harm it;

- protect and promote the rights of all South Africans;

- discharge your duties with all your strength and talents to the best of your  knowledge and ability and true to the dictates of your conscience;

- do justice to all; and

- devote yourself to the well-being of the Republic and all of its people.”

Never in the history of our new democracy has being true to the dictates of one’s conscience resonated more deeply for a president of South Africa. The time is now, and your actions on the recommendations of the Zondo Commission will be your lasting legacy. Ultimately, your decisions and actions must be those of the President of the Republic of South Africa, and not the president of the ANC.

State capture and large-scale corruption have irrevocably harmed South Africa. Your Oath of Office demands action, and undoubtedly the governing party will pay the price. The choice is yours – loyalty to the ANC at all costs, or being guided by the dictates of your conscience in the interest of the country and all South Africans.

Sincerely yours

Dries Wiese

Chairperson of the Afrikanerbond