Limpopo DA demands Zuma capture

In calling for President Jacob Zuma to step down as they staged a march through the streets of Polokwane on Tuesday, the Democratic Alliance (DA) in Limpopo stuck to party guns in demanding action against state capture and in addition the protection of provincial assets. But even prior to a sea of blue taking to the mass move, DA Provincial Leader Jacques Smalle boldly pinpointed ruling party cadres as those responsible for allegedly looting Limpopo’s coffers.
Speaking to Polokwane Observer before the start of the march led by DA Leader Mmusi Maimane, Smalle was not yet willing to reveal the names of the various ruling party cadres considered to be responsible for the alleged looting of Limpopo coffers. “As the head Jacob Zuma is in charge of the looting, but this is being followed (up) by various ANC people and cadres within the Limpopo sectors and the main culprits are the people who are linked to the Department of Education,” he remarked.

The march united supporters from varying cultural groupings who undertook the walk to the offices of Provincial Treasury MEC Rob Tooley, who was presented with a memorandum addressed to the Limpopo government demanding, among others, for Zuma to be fired.
Smalle informed a growing audience that the Department of Treasury, located adjacent to the Premier’s Office, was considered to be the only credible Limpopo department left.
In its memorandum the DA in the province demanded, among others, that all Parliamentarians from Limpopo voted to remove Zuma in the forthcoming motion of no confidence to be introduced by Maimane. The party’s Limpopo structure said it was incumbent on the Legislature and Provincial Government to also listen to the people and to ensure that the demand reached every Limpopo Parliamentarian to take the mandate forward.
The DA in the province further stressed that Provincial Treasury should guard against capture by the Guptas, “standing up against Zuma handing them the keys to our public money”.
“Jacob Zuma is the chief suspect in a programme of state capture benefitting the Guptas and other insiders, and in a most reckless midnight Cabinet reshuffle he threw the keys to Treasury to the Guptas. This is not the conduct of a man who can remain our President.”
After its march the DA in the province was seen to be up for slight criticism from party supporters claiming to have been left out in the cold during the mass action, for they too wanted to throw their weight behind the growing countrywide demand for Zuma’s removal. In a text message from a DA supporter in the city it was stated that she would have wanted to be part of the march, but wasn’t informed.

Story: YOLANDE NEL
>>observer.yolande@gmail.com

Photos: THINUS DU TOIT
>>thinus@observer.co.za