Ailing SA needs summit

The more we watch the ANC muddle through the ongoing Jacob Zuma debacle, the more critical it becomes for opposition parties to convene and provide SA’s voters with a declaration of intent that, should they comprise a majority after the 2019 election, they will give effect to a Convention for a Democratic SA (Codesa)-type summit that will change our Constitution to ensure that a president will never again be able to control sitting MPs to the extent that ours has become a “lock up and go” Parliament. And that never again will anyone in the government be able to loot state-owned enterprises or bulletproof themselves against prosecution, as Zuma has done.

We should be profoundly grateful to our courageous media for their unstinting work in exposing the Zupta-style state capture, which has almost brought our country to its knees. It was only relatively recently that South Africans realised the extent to which Zuma abrogated power to the Gupta family. The exposure of the extent to which surrogates were hand-picked by the Guptas has provided a much-needed wakeup call to the nation.

Parties to the aforementioned declaration must make clear their intention to prosecute perpetrators of state capture. It is common cause that the Guptas have subverted our government and criminally exploited SA’s resources. They and their accomplices must be tried and sentenced.

Ours is a damaged democracy and a postelection Codesa represents the only realistic way of doing this.

Sandy Johnston Nelson Mandela Bay