DA launches petition to haul Ramaphosa before state capture inquiry

The DA has launched a petition calling for the ANC and President Cyril Ramaphosa to testify before the Zondo Commission of inquiry into state capture and explain why the governing party allowed the so-called state capture to go on for such a long time.

DA chief whip John Steenhuisen said in a statement: “Testimonies presented before the Zondo Commission have made it abundantly clear that it was not just Jacob Zuma, his family, and the now-infamous Gupta family at the centre of the state capture robbery project. It was the entire African National Congress [ANC], including President Cyril Ramaphosa, who knew this theft was happening and did nothing to stop it.”

Steenhuisen added that undoubtedly the state capture project was conceived, nurtured, and executed directly under the nose of the ANC national executive, within former president Jacob Zuma’s cabinet and in the ANC caucus.

“The ANC majority in parliament failed to take decisive action for eight years during which the scourge of state capture extended its tentacles over the Union Buildings, Luthuli House, Sars [South African Revenue Service], Hawks, NPA, and state-owned entities,” Steenhuisen said.

The DA chief whip said claims by Ramaphosa and other ANC leaders of them not being aware of what was happening is an insult to South Africans who now have to shoulder the financial burden of state capture through multi-million rand bail-outs, VAT increases, and fuel price hikes.

Steenhuisen said: “Ramaphosa’s ANC cannot escape complicity in aiding and abetting state capture as their indifference allowed state capture to flourish.

“State capture is one of the biggest heists ever committed against the South African people. The ANC must be held accountable for their role in this crime and testify before the Zondo commission. South Africans deserve to know the truth.”

The DA recently called for Zuma, and other minister implicated in state capture to appear before the commission as well.

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