Big screen man:
In a grilling by the opposition, president tells Parliament he did not influence the awarding of government contracts to his relatives
EFF leader Julius Malema gestures on the National Assembly’s live video screen on Thursday during President Jacob Zuma’s question-and-answer session.
President Jacob Zuma dodged questions in Parliament on Thursday, including whether he had helped his relatives get government contracts.
The president also defended the embattled South African Airways board, which has been accused of failing in its duty to ensure good governance at the broke national carrier.
At a heated sitting on Thursday, EFF MPs attending a Zuma question-and-answer session for the first time in about a year walked out after three of them were asked to leave for disrupting proceedings.
The EFF boycotted previous sessions, saying it did not recognise Zuma as the country’s president and wanted him to resign.
Zuma faced tough questions from opposition MPs about allegations that he was at the centre of Gupta state capture and that he was complicit in the looting and mismanagement of stateowned entities.
Allegations emerged in August that Zuma had initiated and fostered several relationships between cabinet ministers and his relatives to secure government contracts and other financial benefits for himself and his family.
“I have never done such a thing,” Zuma said in a terse reply to a question by DA leader Mmusi Maimane.
Maimane referred to an affidavit submitted to National Assembly Speaker Baleka Mbete’s office by Brent Simons, a chief director in the Department of Public Service and Administration and an ANC member, detailing how the president had allegedly influenced the awarding of contracts to his family.
In the affidavit, Simons said he had been present when Zuma sent his relatives to cabinet ministers “with a clear instruction to help these family members secure contracts where possible”.
Maimane said: “If Simons is lying, are you going to take legal action?”
But Zuma dodged the question, saying: “I have answered the question.” This response elicited angry objections from opposition MPs.
The president said he had never instructed anyone to award contracts to members of his family.
DA chief whip John Steenhuisen said: “The question is simple: will he take action legal action against Simons if he is lying? He must answer the question, otherwise this is a sham and so we might as well pack it up.”
However, Mbete leapt to Zuma’s defence.
“He has answered the question the way he wanted to answer,” she said.
In a supplementary question, EFF leader Julius Malema, who constantly referred to Zuma as “Ubaba ka Duduzane”, asked the president why he had not taken any legal action against people who were “putting you at the centre of state capture” if the claims were not true.
“Should I stand here and take everyone to court? You [Malema] say things about me, but I don’t take people like you to court,” Zuma said.