Speech by DA Parliamentary Leader, Mmusi Maimane, to the Cape Town Press Club, Tuesday, November 11 2014

Zuma can run, but he can't hide

So much has changed since I last came to speak here few weeks ago.

Our country is facing a crisis of accountability, not seen since the days of Apartheid.

The president is missing in action while the ANC seems more intent on protecting him from potential embarrassment than they are on upholding our Constitution.

Our democracy is  balanced on a knife-edge, its institutions are being undermined and disregarded by a self-serving government.

At a moment in time when the country needs strong leadership, the President is nowhere to be found.

All the while the unemployed millions continue to suffer in poverty.

South Africa's economy faces dark days ahead. The past year has seen growth slow to a crawl, the Rand depreciate and our credit ratings downgraded.

As the world marks the 25th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, South Africa still grapples with its own divisions and the challenge of incorporating black South Africans, suffering undereducation and unemployment, into the mainstream economy.

At the root of this decay is a President who is running away from accountability; a President without gravitas, who fails dismally to understand his role.

I listened cautiously to President Zuma as he addressed the NCOP last week - I was seated in the gallery to hear his words. He spoke like a leader who has lost his desire to lead, long having lost the populist touch that saw him rise to power in Polokwane in 2009. He spoke as a president distant from the realities of the people on the ground.

A journalist remarked that the only new thing about his address to the NCOP was its date.

President Zuma is absent without leave, while the promise of a democratic South Africa is eroded by corrupt politicians who flaunt the privilege they believe public office brings.

Safe in the knowledge that they will not be called to account, cabinet ministers and government comrades alike have spent millions of Rands of taxpayers money on lavish hotels, expensive cars, chartered flights and extravagant parties.

The ideal of an integrated South Africa remains a dream deferred.

Over 20 years ago South Africans from all spectrums of society united to lay the foundation for a new South Africa. That foundation, the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, was intended to protect our freedoms. It was intended to establish a system of government that would never again allow for the subversion of the needs of the many, in favour of the needs of the few.

Central to that system is democratic accountability, for democracy free from accountability is tantamount to tyranny. Make no mistake, without robust democracy, we face tyranny in South Africa.

Sadly, as President Zuma and his comrades have run away from accountability, they have trampled that foundation. The Constitutional order in South Africa is at great risk today of being forever damaged.

In the face of this blatant contempt for checks and balances, it is easy to become desensitised to this crisis of accountability. Many people today simply shrug off scandal after scandal, because there is scandal fatigue that has become the norm, certainly with reference to President Zuma.

But we must reject this status quo in the strongest terms and take a firm stance on the issue:  President Zuma and the ANC must be called to account.  It is no longer credible for the ANC to blame all of their recent failings on Apartheid, the constitution and the opposition. They must take responsibility for their maladministration and corruption. It is as simple as that.

Over the past 10 years we have been witness to a President prone to applying the rules of accountability very selectively.

After dismissing Gwen Mahlangu-Nkabinde, former Minister of Public Works, and Sicelo Shiceka, former Minister of Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs, based on recommendations from a Public Protector's in 2011, he went on to axe Bheki Cele  in June of 2012 over irregularities surrounding  new SAPS headquarters.

Yet in his personal capacity he has managed to evade accountability in one scandal after the next, ignoring the very same Public Protector who he abided against Mahlangu-Nkabinde, Shiceka and Cele.

From the Arms Deal, to his dealings with Schabir Shaik, the Guptas and Nkandla, President Zuma has managed to wield his authority for personal gain despite his crumbling credibility on the local and international stage.

Just last week the Draft Report of the farcical ANC study group Ad Hoc Committee on Nkandla cleared President Zuma of any wrongdoing on the matter, despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary. This whitewash is a travesty of justice and democracy and should be called as such.

I take issue with the Draft report on two fronts:

Firstly, by denigrating the report of the Public Protector to the same level as that of the SIU and a task-team of ANC ministers, the committee showed blatant disregard for the constitutional authority bestowed on the office as a Chapter 9 institution.

President Zuma and his acolytes would have us believe that the Public Protector is akin to an ombudsman, with the implication that her recommendations can be viewed as mere suggestions.

But we will not allow President Zuma to apply the Constitution at his discretion. The recent ruling of Western Cape High Court Judge Ashton Schippers in the Hlaudi Motsoeneng / SABC case found that findings and remedial action taken by the Public Protector cannot be ignored and are not "mere recommendations, which an organ of state may accept or reject."

Secondly, the Draft Report claims that not only did the President not request the upgrades to his private residence, but had no knowledge of what was happening at his own home. President Zuma was seemingly oblivious to the scope of the R246 million construction project that was literally taking place in his own back yard.

Instead the committee shifts the blame to officials who exceeded their mandate, and to an architect who seemingly just went rogue. This is nothing more than a disingenuous attempt to find a scapegoat to exonerate President Zuma.

Some would argue that this cost is negligible in the grand scheme of corruption today, and that it does not impact on the lives of ordinary South Africans.

But it exemplifies a long-standing pattern of abuse of public resources, and an aloof President who has disengaged from the responsibility of the office he holds.

His denial of knowledge of the scope of the project notwithstanding, we know that this was simply not the case. Not only was Zuma regularly briefed on the progress of the project, but he actively encouraged his cronies to speed up the work on his homestead.

Yet the President persists in his denial of any wrongdoing and continues to avoid engaging on the matter. He is ducking the issue and hiding away. Perhaps he's hiding at Nkandla.

The DA will not stand for this. It's time for him to return home to Parliament. humbul'ekhay.

If President Zuma will not meet us in the National Assembly, then he may have to meet us in the courts.

As yet President Zuma has neither adhered to the remedial actions of the Public Protector's report and reimbursed the state for the undue benefit he received from the upgrade, nor has he adequately responded to Parliament on his complicity in the issue.

In fact, we believe the President wilfully misled Parliament about his knowledge of the project and failed to intervene when initially questioned on the escalating cost thereof in 2009. His remarks to that his family had a bond over the houses at Nkandla proved to be a red-herring when, in fact, South Africa is concerned about the non-security upgrades such as the amphitheatre, visitors' centre, tuckshop, swimming pool and cattle kraal.

Sadly these examples are merely symptomatic of a wide-spread attitude toward accountability in the upper echelons of the governing party.

And so it has trickled down to his cabinet of cheerleaders: Communications Minister Faith Muthambi completely ignored the findings of a Public Protector report and hired Hlaudi Motsoeneng. Moreover, under-performing cabinet ministers such as Tina Joematt-Petersen, Angie Motshekga and Mildred Oliphant have been largely protected by President Zuma and remain in his Cabinet.

This speaks of a president who is not only Secure in Comfort in Nkandla, but safe in the comfort that he has surrounded himself with an inner circle of yes-men and yes-women who are complicit in his corruption.

This is nothing new. As far back as 2005 Judge Hillary Squires found then Deputy President Zuma's financial advisor, Schabir Shaik, guilty of corruption with their relationship being described as "generally corrupt."

After a costly victory the DA can confirm that the Spy Tapes fail to provide any significant reason for the NPA's decision to drop the charges against the President, but rather serve to illustrate how he has misused his power to avoid being brought to account.

This opens the door to the reinstatement of 783 charges of corruption, fraud, racketeering and money laundering against the President.

Unfortunately President Zuma does also not appear to be a man who learns from his mistakes, nor one who places much stock in executive accountability.

I am deeply troubled by Zuma's view that corruption is a criminal offence only when viewed from a "western paradigm" and is generally a "victimless crime". I wrote to President Zuma to implore him to clarify this view, and his response was merely that "you are, and all South Africans are, aware of his stance on corruption."

Yes, Mr President, that is the problem - we are all too well aware.

Yet in the context of this view the President, with the allegations of corruption surrounding the Arms Deal still hanging over his head, jetted off to Russia in August for a trip that was shrouded in secrecy.

Shortly after his mysterious trip, however, news broke of a R1 trillion deal between South Africa and Russian state-owned nuclear company Rosatom.

While the government has since back-peddled on the issue, claiming the deal is yet to be confirmed, the parallels with the Arms Deal cannot be ignored.

Will the lights of the Kremlin be shining brightly in the years to come, just as the "lights of the Eiffel Tower were shining brightly" when bribes landed in his personal bank account - allegedly.

The President clearly believes himself to be above the law, with few within the ANC brave enough to challenge him for fear of reprisal. It is for this reason that the only way that we will be governed by an accountable government, is if we elect a new one.

The ANC has proved itself incapable of self-correction. Its agenda now is just to consolidate and tie down its power - its plan is to close down on opponents, rather than challenging us with superior argument.

As long as President Zuma remains in power we will continue to see the erosion of government accountability and the rule of law.

I am deeply troubled that President Zuma's attitude toward the Public Protector on the matter of Nkandla sets a dangerous precedent. If the ANC is willing to misuse its majority to steamroll opposition parties in the Ad Hoc Committee on Nkandla before we were forced to withdraw our participation, what is stopping it from subverting the independence of any and all Chapter 9 institutions?

This is of fundamental concern to the future of our democracy. What is stopping the ANC from ignoring the IEC when they disagree with the outcome of an election?

This prospect forces me to ask whether President Zuma has any respect for the supreme law of our land?

Or is President Zuma succeeding in a project of state capture. First the offices of government, then the independent institutions, then Parliament, then the police and the defence force, and finally the courts? Is this the real legacy Jacob Zuma legacy project? Does South Africa face the prospect of a modern day Louis the Fourteenth, who infamously proclaim "L'Etat, c'est moi"- I am the state.

The time has come for voters to imagine a future South Africa free of the burden of President Jacob Zuma, free of the corruption and maladministration, free of the cost of lavish cabinet member lifestyles, free of the leaderless Police that struggle daily to fight crime, free of the broken hospitals and mud schools that miseducate our young people.

The time has come for South Africans to seriously reconsider what it means to vote at election time.

Yet the ANC seems intent on not letting this happen, even if it means contravening the Electoral Act and breaking the law. It has now become a regular strategy of the ANC to distribute food parcels and blankets to voters through public resources, as was the case on the eve of the crucial round by-elections in Tlokwe in August last year.

A more disturbing example of the abuse of public resources was the launch of the "Fetsa Tlala" (End Hunger) program in October 2013 by President Zuma and Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, Tina Joemat-Pettersson.

The program, with a budgetary allocation of nearly R2 billion, was little more than a conduit for funding the ANC's election effort.

The road ahead is clearly long and littered with ANC potholes. Removing Zuma from office is not the final destination, but merely a welcome rest stop along the way.

I can no longer count on one hand the number of scandals currently facing Jacob Zuma, each of which ought to result in his removal from office. These are not DA obsessions, they are not our targeting of one man - they are rather our duty to every single South African who deserves a better government and deserves a better deal.

Recent examples from our continent underscore the importance of institutional independence and constitutional government.

The attempted coup in Lesotho serves as a warning against allowing state institutions from being abused in the service of the political interests of individual politicians and political parties. During the recent unrest the police were seen to be the Prime Minister's private army, while the country's Armed Forces were seen to serve the needs of Deputy Prime Minister.

When Parliament ceases to operate, governance collapses.

Right now, we must look long and hard at how functional our Parliament is. With the example of Lesotho, rumbling plans to militarise our Parliamentary Precinct must be seen in the light of a failed Parliament.

More recently, just two weeks ago in Burkina Faso, demonstrators took to the streets and torched the buildings of parliament to prevent President Blaise Compaore from amending the Constitution to allow for an extension to his 27 year rule. This should send a clear message to statesmen - Governance is at the will of the people.

It follows from the above that true accountability implies upholding the rule of law, a deep and profound respect for Chapter 9 institutions, an unbiased speaker in the National Assembly, an independent judiciary free from political appointments and an independent national broadcaster.

Yet these goals will not be realised as long as the ANC maintains its majority in Parliament and uses cadre deployment to reward those who toe the party line, and punish those who do not. The Lord of Luthuli House, Gwede Mantashe, is watching the ANC closely and their members know it's The Party Line, or the end for them and their careers.

This became plainly clear to Max Sisulu, who is today without a job, after establishing to probe the President's complicity in Nkandla in the previous Parliament.

Performance of ANC representatives is measured not by their loyalty or service to the voters, but by loyalty to the party.

The best display of this sad state of affairs is the decision to implement e-tolls in Gauteng - regardless of public opposition to the program - simply because the ANC at the top had decided that the User must Pay.

In order to reverse this trend it is vital that South African society realizes that accountability is not limited to what happens in Parliament; its in the hands of citizens who vote members into Parliament. Its in the hands of citizens who vote members into Provincial Legislatures, and in the hands of citizens who vote for their municipal councillors.

The electorate must take ownership of the fight using their votes as weapons. To those who feel that they do not have a voice, I can tell them today that the DA in parliament is their voice.

We have helped expose the corruption of the Arms Deal.

We have secured the Spy Tapes and will show that the decision to drop the charges against President Zuma was not rational.

We have led the charge on Nkandla, exposed the truth, and will take every action necessary to make Zuma account.

We have illuminated the plight of millions of scholars who do not have classrooms, textbooks or scholar transport.

We expose failures in the health system every day, from critical medicine stock-outs to vacancy rates that render medical treatment impossible.

But most of all, we expose the trickle down of failures from the man at the top who has lost his will to lead.

While these are notable actions of the DA, the underlying problem of a President and governing party that believes itself to be beyond reproach persists. In January President Zuma was quoted as saying that the ANC "will continue to run this government forever and ever. Whether they like it or not."

I can say to President Zuma today: We do not like it. And we will change it. For the ANC cannot continue to govern with massively declining public support.

Once a party is in decline is nearly impossible to arrest that decline.

And make no mistake the ANC is in decline, with its own alliances in disarray.

With every day that President Zuma spends in office, the legitimacy of our constitution and international standing wanes. Where South Africa was once heralded on the world stage as a bastion of freedom and equality under Mandela, we now face criticism over our soft stance on human rights abuses and for our support for China, rather than supporting freedom of entry to leaders like the Dalai Lama.

If South Africa is to reclaim the moral high ground it is imperative that do not allow President Zuma and the ANC to lead us any further down this perilous road.

But I will say it again. Accountability is not the sole purview of opposition parties, but the social responsibility of each and every South African.

If the ANC will not listen then we will all have to shout louder. It is only through a united front that we will be able to make sure the ANC knows that corruption, cronyism and nepotism will not be tolerated.

The DA will work as the official opposition, to lead the charge for real accountability. We will work with like-minded parties who agree with us on this fundamental action.

No one in South Africa should today see these issues as petty politicking.

What is happening in the highest levels of our government is today the greatest threat to our freedom in 20 years.

My commitment to South Africa is that the DA will move against President Zuma with every available option - and we will not hesitate to move for his removal from office for any and all of his national shames.

President Zuma's failure to account Parliament is an impeachable offence.

Issued by the DA, November 11 2014

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