Zuma, Maimane and Ndlozi. The two members of the opposition are threatening to have Zuma arrested.
Image By Sunday Times
On Sunday, the opposition parties went on the offensive and called on South African President, Jacob Zuma to report those members of his party and government who were stealing from the state or face prosecution himself. The spokesman for the Economic Freedom Fighters, Mbuyiseni Ndlozi called on Jacob Zuma to come out and name and shame those people that he had indicated he knew who were stealing from the state. He was speaking against the background of utterances that had been made by Msholozi when he addressed an African National Congress cadres forum in Pietermaritzburg on Friday night, where he had stated, among other things, “those are the thieves and I know they are stealing. I’m just watching them. I know them”.
Ndlozi also took a swipe at the Chairperson of the South African Airways Board, Dudu Myeni, who had also made a similar statement when she addressed Parliament’s portfolio committee on public enterprises, where she also professed knowledge of those who were corrupt and had been stealing public funds. In response to this, Ndlozi said, “Our law is very clear that if you are aware of crime you must report it, including corruption.” He added that it was therefore imperative for both Dudu Myeni and Jacob Zuma to immediately report the persons who were stealing public funds or face prosecution themselves for knowing about a crime and not doing anything about it. He said that both these individuals, who were at the helm of important institutions, should know about the urgency to protect public funds, adding that if this did not happen, the EFF would not hesitate to lay charges against them for knowing about a crime and not reporting it.
The same call was reiterated by the leader of Democratic Alliance, Mmusi Maimane, who stated that according to section 34(1) and (2) of the Prevention and Combating of Corrupt Activities Act, Zuma was mandated to report these persons to the South African Police Services. He added that for Zuma to hold on to this information was to undermine the country’s fight against corruption, adding that there was a possibility that Zuma was keeping this information for political reasons. Mr Maimane informed members of the media fraternity that he had laid charges against Zuma on Tuesday in terms of the Prevention and Combating of Corrupt Activities Act. “I will therefore ask the SAPS to widen their investigation in order to investigate those people known by the president to be stealing,” he added.
