Zuma and Mantashe ‘spin’ not fooling anybody‚ says Lekota
Even though it was April Fool’s Day on Friday‚ what President Jacob Zuma and ANC secretary general Gwede Mantashe spun fooled nobody‚ says Congress of the People (COPE) president Mosiuoa Lekota.
“South Africans will no longer be gullible suckers. The judgment of the Constitutional Court was clear and unequivocal. Zuma and the ANC in parliament had acted in a manner that was inconsistent with the Constitution. This is a damning judgment. It requires the sternest of action against the transgressors‚” Lekota asserted.
He was referring to the Constitutional Court’s finding that Zuma had failed to “uphold‚ defend and respect the Constitution” by not protecting the dignity of the office of the Public Protector‚ a Chapter 9 institution.
The court also ordered Zuma to pay back taxpayers’ money that was spent on non-security upgrades to his private Nkandla residence.
Zuma on Friday night conceded that many matters could have been handled differently in the scandal over the estimated R246 million of taxpayer cash spent on his Nkandla homestead‚ and apologised for the "frustration and confusion" this had caused.
"I did not act dishonestly or with any personal knowledge of the irregularities by the Department of Public Works with regards to the Nkandla project‚" he said.
“In short‚ he broke the law. Anyone who breaks the law must face the consequences‚” Lekota said in response to the President’s apology on Saturday .
“Saying 'sorry' is not an escape. It can never be. There is equality before the law. The law must apply to Zuma and the ANC caucus. They cannot be spared. If Zuma and the ANC want to redeem themselves and show by deed that they are indeed committed to the Constitution‚ ANC MPs will have to act constitutionally and demand Zuma's resignation‚” Lekota added.
“If that does not happen‚ the ANC caucus which thus far has supported his stubborn resistance to paying back the money in an equally arrogant and stubborn manner will make themselves complicit once again in trampling of the Constitution. They have been put on terms. They must demand full accountability from Zuma.
“In fact‚ the National Assembly must now becomes the peoples' court and judge Zuma's violation of his oath of office. The NA elected him‚ the NA must now act against him for violating the Constitution. Their failure to act will compound their complicity. It will mean that they have staged a coup d'état and overthrown the Constitution. That will force us to use Section 80 to go back to the Constitutional Court for further arbitration of the matter‚” Lekota cautioned.
- TMG Digital.
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