House in stitches as DA taunts opposition ANC refuses to take bait over Zuma, preferring to focus on budget

PRESIDENT Jacob Zuma, the Gupta family and Jamaican star Shaggy took centre stage in the Western Cape legislature as MPLs debated the province’s budget and fiscal policy. With Deputy Finance Minister Mcebisi Jonas’s revelations about the Gupta family and its alleged stronghold over government affairs fresh in their minds, DA MPLs taunted the opposition.

Finance MEC Ivan Meyer set the tone, asking ANC members during his speech if they had brought along their bulletproof vests because the fireworks were about to start. “If not for President Zuma and Guptas destroying this economy, we would have been in a much better state,” Meyer said.

MEC Alan Winde had MPs in stitches as he played Shaggy’s hit song, Itwasn’tme. Referring to the movie, TheLast48Hours, Winde said that in the ANC’s movie the last 48 hours was about the Guptas and the president with Itwasn’tme as its theme song, while the DA’s movie featured service delivery.

MPL Masizole Mnqasela said when the DA takes over, opportunities would be given to the people, not “just to those who are friends with Zuma and the Guptas”. “If you are not Zuma or Gupta you are nothing in this country,” he added.

ANC MPLs refused to take the bait, focusing on the budget.

ANC MPL Carol Beerwinkel highlighted the murder of Sinoxolo Mafevuka, whose

FRIDAY MARCH 18 2016 body was found in a toilet near her home, as an urgent reason to make water and sanitation services a priority “or at the least one of the province’s game changers”.

Meanwhile, Premier Helen Zille was locked in a Twitter exchange clarifying the donations her party had received from the Gupta family in 2009.

Her posts included: “I was DA leader at time & I didn’t pay it back ‘cause there was no corruption involved. This is no strings attached” (sic); “My understanding is that there was NO need to pay back any money, because there was nothing corrupt!” (sic).