Zuma has gone ‘rogue’
President says he is fixing the country, critics say he’s the problem
THE mobilisation against “a rogue” president has begun as Struggle stalwarts and opposition parties called for South Africans to take to the streets and for President Jacob Zuma to step down.
Yesterday Zuma said his cabinet reshuffle was done to try to fix the country, as he witnessed the swearing in of five new ministers and 10 deputies. Five ministers moved portfolios.
Earlier in the day, he apparently apologised at a function in the Eastern Cape and said he had to get back to Johannesburg because he was trying to fix the country.
But his opponents within the ANC said he was the problem and they urged South Africans to stand up for the country and to protect the economy from him and the Guptas.
Leading the call was Barbara Hogan, the partner of veteran Ahmed Kathrada, who died earlier this week. She said she was deeply hurt by Zuma’s decision to fire ministers immediately after the funeral of her husband, adding that the president had “gone rogue”.
Zuma defied his own party and went ahead to remove finance minister Pravin Gordhan, she said.
Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa said he would continue in his role, but found it “totally unacceptable” for Zuma to fire Gordhan, who had served excellently.
Both Hogan and Ramaphosa said Zuma was putting his own interests before the country.
Gordhan and his deputy, Mcebisi Jonas, received a warm welcome by Treasury staff and were supported when they rejected an amateurish intelligence support, claiming they were colluding with overseas interests to undermine the country, and which Zuma used as a reason to get rid of them. South Africans should mobilise, they said.
Support for Gordhan came from alliance members, the business community, unions, religious communities and civil society. There was also a protest outside Parliament and a march to the Treasury led by Zuma opponent Zwelinzima Vavi.
Many have called for a parliamentary vote of no-confidence in Zuma.
The DA and the EFF have asked that Parliament reconvene.
Asked how he would vote, Gordhan said he would be guided by his conscience.
Durban’s civil society and business community were scathing in their condemnation of the reshuffle.
Movie mogul, Anant Singh, who was a close friend of Nelson Mandela, tweeted early yesterday: “At this juncture in our history, we as South Africans need to heed and reflect on the wise words of German anti-Nazi theologian and Lutheran pastor Martin Niemoller who said ‘First they came for the Socialists and I did not speak out because I was not a Socialist, Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out because I was not a trade unionist, Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out because I was not a Jew, Then they came for me and there was no one left to speak for me’. Beware South Africa.”
Durban Chamber of Commerce and Industry president Zeph Ndlovu said the reshuffle did not come at the right time.
“There were many things going at the time, but the president asked ministers to come back from an international investors meeting, and this should not have happened.
“The best way forward is to have the new team go back to the international community with representatives from civil society and business to reassure investors and instil confidence in the country. This will help in terms of long-term investing which will improve our economic growth opportunities and absorb as many people as possible into the labour force.”
Last night, former Constitutional Court judge Zak Yacoob described the reshuffle as a “smokescreen” to get rid of Gordhan. “It was going to happen. It’s quite clear that Gordhan is honest and that the president has other agendas and the two can’t work together. He fired the others as a smokescreen to get rid of the finance minister.”
But he is in the process of destroying himself with his roguish conduct. The ANC constitution requires members to behave honestly and the president is not, said Yacoob.
Meanwhile, chief executive of the Pietermaritzburg Chamber of Commerce, Melanie Veness, said, “Shuffling the cabinet might be the prerogative of the president, but presumably any sitting president needs some justification. Especially when positions like that of finance minister are changed and knowing what effect such a move is likely to have on the markets and investor confidence.
“To have caused this reaction with little apparent justification, is inexcusable.”
The move would negatively affect business confidence, which she described as being, “at an all time low, and this in turn will impact growth and employment.
“It will also have scuppered expected interest rate cuts, making life all the more difficult for business and the man in the street. The fall in the rand and no potential relief in interest rates will negatively impact our inflation prospects.”