Ramaphosa defends party stance
DEPUTY President Cyril Ramaphosa had a tough time in Parliament yesterday fending off claims from the opposition that the ANC is gunning for MPs who broke ranks with party on the motion of no confidence.
The opposition said the ANC had failed to uphold the constitution by targeting its senior MPs for voting against President Jacob Zuma.
But Ramaphosa said the party was dealing with the matter internally.
Makhosi Khoza and Derek Hanekom have the spectre of disciplinary action against them. Hanekom has a few days to respond to ANC secretary-general Gwede Mantashe’s letter as to why he should not be removed as chairperson of the national disciplinary committee.
Ramaphosa was appearing in Parliament to answer several questions on the Guptas, stateowned entities (SOEs) and the state of the economy, among others.
On the SOEs, he said the government was trying to improve their efficiency.
The SOEs have received almost R500 billion in bailouts in the last few years.
He said they wanted to improve their balance sheets and merge those who are not doing well. Some of the entities have been struggling with their balance sheets over the last few years and continue to lose billions of rand.
SOEs have been a subject of leaked e-mails relating to state capture.
Ramaphosa said they would look at how best to implement the report of the presidential review commission on SOEs. The reform would be implemented to improve their business and operations. They also wanted to align the salaries of executives and boards of SOEs.
Ramaphosa said no one would be spared in the prosecution of those involved in state capture.
Without referring to the Gupta family by name, he said they would not be spared either.
“Nobody, no family is above the law. Even in this case, whoever is found to have committed a misdemeanour should be dealt with. Nobody should think they can escape the long arm of the law.”
This comes after opposition parties complained about the announcement by the Gupta family that they were selling their assets.
Ramaphosa also told MPs he did not have the power to appoint a commission of inquiry to probe state capture.
He said the law enforcement agencies must investigate state capture and leave no stone unturned.
Opposition parties have warned that the National Prosecuting Authority and the Hawks were dragging their feeton investigating the Guptas, despite a trove of leaked e-mails.