Zondo report on Bosasa hitting at Ramaphosa’s political base – analyst

The stakes are high in the ANC as President Cyril Ramaphosa could face having do to a balancing act among his tainted fellow comrades ahead of the December elective conference.

The third state capture report released on Tuesday detailed Bosasa’s web of kick-backs and corruption that spanned over 16 years, raking in billions in contracts for the company.

Top party leaders implicated in the report such as Mineral Resources and Energy Minister Gwede Mantashe, ANC NEC member Nomvula Mokonyane and Deputy Minister of Defence Thabang Makwetla face possible prosecution for breaching the constitution when they accepted gratifications from Bosasa.

During his term as the ANC secretary-general, Mantashe had security systems installed at his three homes – in Cala and Elliot in the Eastern Cape and in Boksburg, Gauteng. He told the Zondo commission that Bosasa director Papa Leshabane offered to upgrade his security as “a friend of the family,” costing about R600,000.

ALSO READ: State capture report: Mantashe seen by Bosasa leadership as ‘brilliant connection’

Political analyst Ralph Mathekga said it won’t be easy for Ramaphosa to get rid of Mantashe as he knows the “ins and outs” of the governing ANC.

“This report cuts through the ANC factions, Ramaphosa will have to play carefully here. And also, Mantashe knew this was coming…he is the one who said the state capture commission should not be used to tear the party apart, today he faces serious findings. The stakes are high, Mantashe is a party hack,” he said.

Mantashe, said Mathekga, is in touch with the ANC on the ground and in the labour union movement.

“He knows what goes on the ground in the party, this is someone you do not want to lose. Mobilising and mounting a political challenge such as an election won’t be easy without people such as Mantashe.”

ALSO READ: State capture report ‘not worth the paper it’s written on’, says Zuma

‘Mantashe should have left a long time ago’

However, acting head of the Department of History and Political Studies at the Nelson Mandela University, Nontsikelelo Breakfast, believes that Mantashe was a beneficiary of the “selective” ANC step-aside rule.

“Mantashe should have been gone a long time ago. I have always believed that the step-aside ANC rule applied to people aligned to the RET [radical economic transformation]. Many people are accused of doing illegal things but are still in the party…such as Eastern Cape premier [Mabuyane Kekana], one of the people who pulled off for the CR17 campaign in 2017.”

Mkhwebane’s investigation found that while provincial ANC treasurer Babalo Madikizela pocketed R280,000 looted from Mbizana Municipality funds meant for the late Winnie Madikizela-Mandela’s memorial service, while Kekana fraudulently received R350,000. The premier has since taken the report on judicial review.

“Had it been Nomvula Mokonyane, Ramaphosa would have acted quickly. She is not in the president’s inner circle that has people such as Kekana, Mantashe and Makwetla,” said Breakfast.

“The many people who face corruption allegations are part of the party forces that dislodged former president Zuma from power, and Ramaphosa knows that they can do it again…but he cannot just try spin this one.”

‘Zondo report compels Ramaphosa to act’

The North West University politics professor Andre Duvenhage remarked that Ramaphosa was legally compelled by the Zondo report on Bosasa to act.

“He has a legal instrument in his hands to act, there is no doubt that there are legitimate grounds for him to take action against some members of his Cabinet. The state is a legal institution and so many people were identified in the wrongdoing.”

In the event that no action is taken, Ramaphosa could be selective, he added.

“We should also be cognitive of the fact that criminality and corruption is entrenched in the ANC. Factions vote according to how favourable the candidate is to them. Will Ramaphosa succumb to this and ignore the latest Zondo recommendations? That remains to be seen.”

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