President Zuma needs to come clean about Gupta involvement

16 March 2016

Tomorrow, President Jacob Zuma will appear before Parliament, in terms of Rule 111, to answer questions about, among other things, his mismanagement of the economy and the process he followed when he hired and then fired Des van Rooyen, within a period of three days.

I have asked President Zuma whether he consulted any person before the appointment of Mr David van Rooyen as Minister of Finance on 9 December 2015, and removal of Mr van Rooyen as Minister of Finance three days later.

President Jacob Zuma will need to answer truthfully before the National Assembly, which elected him and is duty-bound to hold him accountable for his actions, including the appointment of Ministers, and his stewardship of the economy.

There is a growing body of evidence that suggests that the Gupta family enjoys enormous and improper influence over President Zuma and the affairs of government. I am thus asking the President to explain, before Parliament and the people of South Africa, whether the Gupta family and others played a role, directly or indirectly, in the decision that sent the country’s economy into a tailspin.

At a time when 8,2 million South Africans are jobless, the economy faces a credit downgrade and the cost of living is increasing sharply, we cannot afford the interests of the President and the Gupta family to be placed ahead of the of the public.

Statement issued by DA leader Mmusi Maimane, 16 March 2016