Zuma, Ramaphosa cooked in the same pot of African National Corruption – Malema

In a wide-ranging interview on eNCA’s The Modise Network with Tim Modise broadcast on Saturday, a relaxed EFF leader Julius Malema elaborated on his view that South African voters should not believe the ANC would ever be able to free itself from the grip of corruption and self-interest, even under the leadership of President Cyril Ramaphosa.

He repeated the EFF’s long-running allegations that Eskom remains at risk of being destroyed by the family nexus of power and interests represented by Ramaphosa’s brothers-in-law, Energy Minister Jeff Radebe and billionaire businessman Patrice Motsepe.

Motsepe owns an energy company focused on renewables.

[DON'T MISS IT]: Watch CIC @Julius_S_Malema in conversation with Tim Modise on The Tim Modise Network at 09h00 on eNCA pic.twitter.com/DXWMfrk9h5

— Economic Freedom Fighters (@EFFSouthAfrica) January 26, 2019

In answer to a question from Modise about the biggest risk to the country’s economy coming from an Eskom loan default, Malema said South Africa should be doing everything possible to rescue the power parastatal, as long as the money being used to do so did not end up in the pockets of corrupt politicians and company officials.

He offered the example of Toyota having been regularly bailed out by Japan’s government.

Malema: Japan bailed out Toyota on numerous occasions. Eskom’s problem is not delivery but corruption. We ought to deal with corruption. We have to navigate with ideas until we get it right. #TheModiseNetwork

— Economic Freedom Fighters (@EFFSouthAfrica) January 26, 2019

“In Eskom’s situation, we know the money was stolen. That’s why Eskom is in the state it is now.

“But secondly, you’ve got a board of Eskom, including the Motsepe brothers – Jeff Radebe, the president, Patrice Motsepe – who don’t have love for Eskom. Their wish is that that thing must close so that the Independent Power Producers (IPPs), where they themselves have big contracts, can be an alternative to Eskom.

“That is a big problem. That is another Gupta (state capture attempt) that is coming into our country, and we need to deal with it. Patrice Motsepe must be stopped. Jeff Radebe, Cyril Ramaphosa, they should be stopped.

“These IPPs are going to benefit their families and disregard the state company called Eskom, which has got huge potential.”

This led Modise to ask Malema to compare former president Jacob Zuma’s leadership to Ramaphosa’s, and whether the country’s situation could now improve under Ramaphosa, who had been making sweeping changes and improvements in a bid to clean up the state and the entities it controls.

“You can’t say that. They [Zuma and Ramaphosa] are the same. They are from the same pot. You can’t cook a chicken in the same pot and say this piece is better than that piece. They are all the same. What is the pot? The pot is African National Corruption. That’s where they’re cooked. They are all products of that.

“The symptoms are there, Bra Tim. Cyril is going to show you guys flames. I’m happy that I’m warning now. Because I did warn, even in 2011, about the Guptas, and the ANC wanted to charge me for that.”

They then discussed the fact that Ramaphosa had promised in parliament in November to ensure his son Andile would have to face imprisonment if it was true that he had received money improperly through his business contract with the hugely controversial facilities management company Bosasa.

READ MORE: Ramaphosa says he will imprison his own son if he got R500K corruptly

Malema said: “The son is involved with Bosasa, which we now know is a criminal syndicate. We must ask him when is he taking his son to the police station. He committed to do that. [It was] lip service.”

Malema alleged the EFF was the “only party” that had not taken money from Bosasa.

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