New ActionSA members Vytjie Mentor and Makhosi Khoza blast Zuma

As long as the ANC is in charge, former president Jacob Zuma and others implicated in criminal activity will “never see the inside of a jail”.

This according to former ANC MPs Vytjie Mentor and Makhosi Khoza.

The pair, who are members of former Johannesburg mayor Herman Mashaba’s ActionSA party, addressed supporters virtually while standing outside Parliament on Thursday.

Mentor did not mince her words as she took her turn to address viewers. She and Khoza were both driven out of the party following their public criticism of Zuma.

“I do not believe that those protected within the ANC will ever see the inside of a jail cell as long as the ANC is in charge. Despite the excellent work of the Commission [of Inquiry Into Allegations of State Capture], somewhere in our criminal justice system these cases will stall and fall apart,” said Mentor.

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“I say this with certainty because one of the elements of state capture is the capturing of our institutions of government. When combined with cadre deployment, this has created that ultimate protection to the politically connected within the ANC. The only to fight this level of corruption, she concluded was from the outside. This is why Makhosi and I joined ActionSA.”

“Despite our relative seniority, we were forced out of this building behind us and the organisation we were imprisoned for as children, because we chose country over party,” said Khoza.

“Today, despite having a new president, former president Zuma continues to create a constitutional crisis for our country. From retirement, in his publicly funded palace in Nkandla, he continues to trample on the Constitution he swore to uphold, for which he and his family continue to enjoy benefits paid for by South Africans.”

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Khoza also criticised President Cyril Ramaphosa for failing to use his power in the ANC to see to it that Zuma faced consequences for his actions. Ramaphosa, she suggested, should have addressed the recent behaviour of his predecessor.

“Rather than decisive leadership, instead of hearing strong words backed by tough action during the SONA [State of the Nation Address], president Ramaphosa said nothing about this Constitutional crisis,” Khoza said

Watch the address below

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