During the so-called nine wasted years of state imprisonment, when the organs were being hollowed out for the sole purpose of ensuring that the looters of state funds could do so unhindered, it was the silence of the good guys in the ruling party that was most astonishing. In fact, not only did they keep quiet, they also actively protected then-President Jacob Zuma by closing ranks and piloting him through up to 10 no-confidence motions filed by the opposition. The man who did the most to ensure the ruling party never voted to remove a president who showed he…
During the so-called nine wasted years of state imprisonment, when the organs were being hollowed out for the sole purpose of ensuring that the looters of state funds could do so unhindered, it was the silence of the good guys in the ruling party that was most astonishing.
In fact, not only did they keep quiet, they also actively protected then-President Jacob Zuma by closing ranks and piloting him through up to 10 no-confidence motions filed by the opposition.
The man who did the most to make sure the ruling party never voted to remove a president who showed he didn’t care much for the constitution was Gwede Mantashe.
The affable Mantashe, who served as secretary general of the ruling party for all of Zuma’s years as president, always did his best to paint a coherent picture of why they couldn’t allow the ruling party’s MPs. chose the opposition when voting for Zuma. from.
He even went so far as to use war analogies, comparing Zuma to an army general at war: “ANC MPs voting the president out would be like soldiers leaving their top general at war.”
The only thing he didn’t explain at the time was that this particular army general was abusing his power. It never made sense for Mantashe, Cyril Ramaphosa, Zweli Mkhize, and many others to shut up or defend the rot. The final and final part of the report of the Commission of Inquiry into the coup just shed some light on that when it recommended that Mantashe be investigated for possible criminal acts in the Bosasa case.
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The commission determined that Mantashe accepted free security upgrades for his properties from the company that was just as at the center of the coup as the infamous Gupta brothers. Of course, the report does not say that Mantashe is guilty of corruption, and as he puts it, “There is no prima facie corruption case against me”.
There was a time when even the mention of Mantashe in a report like this would have sent shockwaves down the political corridors. Not anymore.
South Africans have seen it all.
They have come to accept that former social services minister Bathabile Dlamini didn’t make a Freudian slip when she said on national television: “All of us in the (National Executive Committee) have our smaller nyana skeletons and we don’t want to take all the skeletons out.” for all hell will break loose.”
It was a factual statement. Mantashe’s refusal to step aside is based on his own party’s demand that a person be sued before they can step out of their position. What Mantashe fails to realize is that his refusal undermines the little faith some people had that the remaining “good” ANC leaders will act with a bit of integrity.
President Ramaphosa would build superstructures around himself, both in the ANC and in government, to save himself and the ANC in the 2024 national elections. He must realize that it is not the structures, but the people in the structures that voters trust voters.
Do those people have skeletons in their closets that will make them tolerate corruption as long as they did during the nine wasted years? The ‘good’ guys help put the final nail in the ANC’s coffin.