Ramaphosa must fire corrupt Mashatile
29 January 2024
The Democratic Alliance (DA) challenges President Cyril Ramaphosa to come out of hiding and take urgent action over serious allegations of corruption and capture against his Deputy President, Paul Mashatile, who serves solely at the discretion of Ramaphosa.
We demand that Ramaphosa fire Mashatile and direct the Special Investigating Unit to launch an urgent investigation into damning allegations of corruption and capture involving his “Number Two.”
The DA issues this call because, as corruption allegations have piled up against Mashatile in recent months, Ramaphosa has chosen to do what he always does when the people expect him to lead: he took the coward’s way out. Just like he did when the NSFAS corruption scandal broke around Minister Blade Nzimande a few weeks ago, Ramaphosa has again gone into hiding from difficult questions over his appointment and ongoing protection of Mashatile.
It is a clear pattern with Ramaphosa: instead of leading, he chooses to cower in the hopes that his ANC government’s scandals will simply blow over. Just as in the case of Nzimande, the ANC has only made some mealy-mouthed comments about Mashatile appearing before the the party’s misnamed “Integrity Committee.” But the Constitution and the oath of office Ramaphosa took means this is simply not good enough.