22 ‘lies’ that Zuma has told South Africans

'I know nothing about the Guptas' ministerial appointments and the state capture allegations.'

Former president Jacob Zuma. Picture: Tracy Lee Stark

Following President Jacob Zuma’s Cabinet reshuffle on Thursday night, former African National Congress (ANC) MP Vytjie Mentor has shared a list of all the “lies” that the president has told South Africans in recent years.

Mentor has been criticising Zuma’s government for a while now, lately accusing the newly appointed ministers of being “spies”.

The president in 2008 was quoted in reports as saying that he only wanted to serve one term as president, and then came out in 2011 denying that he had said he only wanted one term.

“If the ANC decides that I must have a second term as president, I will do so,” Mentor quoted the president as saying at the time.

Here are 22 “lies” that Mentor said followed after that:

On Nkandla:

1. “My family built my/our Nkandla homestead.”
2. “I took a bond to build Nkandla.”
3. “I don’t know anything about the Nkandla renovations.”
4.”I did not ask for Nkandla renovations.”
5.”I won’t pay back a cent in relation to Nkandla.”
6. “I am not responsible for Nkandla.”
7. “The Public Protector’s remedial action recommendations are not binding.”
8. “I don’t know how much to pay back.”
9.”Police minister will tell me how much to pay back.”
10.”Parliament will determine if I am liable to pay back.”
11. “The ad hoc committee of parliament has determined that I am not liable and that I should not pay a cent.”
12. “All those responsible for Nkandla need to be dealt with.”
13. “I am willing to pay back, and the PP’s remedial actions and recommendations are (now) binding.” (This when the matter was before the courts).

Then came the Guptas saga:

14.”I did not authorise the Guptas to land a plane at the Waterkloof national key point.”
15. “I was not aware of the fact that both people and cargo that was in the Gupta Waterkloof plane were not put through customs processes.”
16. “Ministers of/in the Security Cluster will determine if I was involved in the Waterkloof plane saga.”
17. “All officials who were involved in the Waterkloof plane affair will be dealt with through disciplinary and legal processes.”
18. “The Guptas are my friends, they have a right to do business too.”
19. “The Guptas have invested a lot in the South African economy.”
20. “I know nothing about the Guptas’ ministerial appointments and the state capture allegations.”
21. “I respect the ruling of the Constitutional Court.”

The 22nd “lie” was personal to Mentor and came when her criticism of the president reached his ears and he was asked about her. At the time, the president said: “I don’t have a recollection of who Vytjie Mentor is.”

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