Zuma and I are still ‘friends’, says Ramatlhodi after ‘singing like a canary’

Former minister minister of public service and administration Ngoako Ramatlhodi spent Wednesday giving damning testimony against former president Jacob Zuma and the Guptas.

Many people on social media commented on the explosive nature of the allegations Ramatlhodi made, with several saying that he was “singing like a canary”.

However, despite all this, the former minister claims he’s still friends with Zuma, describing their relationship as “quite close”.  “I know him very well and nothing has changed,” he said.

According to Ramatlhodi, any disputes between them were not personal and they just “disagreed on the issues”.

This is despite the former minister saying he was not informed by the president that he would be removed from his position in a late-night reshuffle, the same one that saw Pravin Gordhan replaced as finance minister.

According to Ramatlhodi, he woke up on April Fool’s Day, 2017, only to be told by his wife, “you are no longer minister, Papa.”

READ MORE: Ramatlhodi’s explosive testimony: The Guptas handled Zuma’s diary

She had apparently found out about his removal from TV news.

Ramatlhodi levelled several apparently damning accusations against the former president, including that the Guptas employed a secretary who controlled Zuma’s diary and could summon him whenever he wanted.

He said the ANC national executive committee (NEC) minutes would prove that Zuma had been confronted on his “toxic” relationship with the family; that Zuma’s connection to them had paralysed the NEC, splitting it between those who defended the president relentlessly and those who were concerned about his links to the controversial family; that Zuma’s son Duduzane would call him directly, and that he was told not to worry about it when he asked the president to tell him to stop it.

The former minister also said Zuma had authorised the controversial Gupta landing at the Waterkloof airforce base in 2013. The family’s landing at the base for a wedding outraged the country at the time. Ramatlhodi remembered his disappointment at the time, feeling it was an affront to South Africa’s hard-won democracy. “People didn’t die for this,” he said.

Whether the former minister and the former president will remain friends after all these particularly damning allegations about Zuma, however, remains to be seen.

https://twitter.com/Kae_Beeh/status/1067723159938379777

Deputy Chief Justice Zondo not wasting this opportunity to ask #Ramatlhodi specific questions about the goings on in the NEC. Ngoako is singing like a canary!

— InThisTogether (@LucasLemotlo) November 28, 2018

Deputy Chief Justice Zondo not wasting this opportunity to ask #Ramatlhodi specific questions about the goings on in the NEC. Ngoako is singing like a canary!

— InThisTogether (@LucasLemotlo) November 28, 2018

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