Ramaphosa takes dig at Zuma

Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa has defended late stalwart Ahmed Kathrada’s call for President Jacob Zuma to step down.

In a hard-hitting speech yesterday, delivered in honour of Kathrada, Ramaphosa said he did not believe that the stalwart made the call out of anger or conceit.

Ramaphosa, who is on the campaign trail to succeed Zuma in December, has been speaking out against corruption and state capture recently in a bid to distance himself from the president’s inner circle as the ANC elective congress approaches.

Ramaphosa seems emboldened by the outcome of the ANC policy conference at which the proposals of Zuma-aligned delegates were shot down and challenged.

Ramaphosa said he was of the firm view that Kathrada’s decision to call on Zuma to step down in an open letter published last year was a difficult and painful one.

However, having spent 75 years of his life in the ANC, including more than 20 years in prison, Kathrada knew that he had a responsibility to speak out, said Ramaphosa.

Ramaphosa was speaking in SchweizerReneke, North West, at the unveiling of a national programme of tribute in the lead-up to Kathrada’s birthday.

“In a life full of difficult choices, we know that his decision to call publicly on President Jacob Zuma to resign his office was one of the most difficult and painful he had to make. He made the call not out of anger, nor of conceit.

“He made the call out of a sincere concern for the state of the movement and the needs of the country. He made the call because, as a loyal and disciplined member of the African National Congress, he understood that he was a custodian of the values and practices of the movement to which he had dedicated 75 years of his life. He understood that he had a responsibility — like all of us do — to defend the unity, integrity and principles of the organisation,” said Ramaphosa.

For months, Ramaphosa remained quiet as Zuma criss-crossed the country endorsing Dr Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma as his preferred candidate for the ANC presidency.

Ramaphosa has found his voice in recent weeks on issues preoccupying the nation. He has also consistently called for an independent judicial commission of inquiry into mounting allegations of state capture.

“It is a matter of deep regret to those of us within the leadership of the movement that, during his final months, comrade Kathy should have harboured such grave concerns about the state of the ANC and the direction of the country,” said Ramaphosa in what many interpreted as a swipe at Zuma.

“He [Kathrada] was concerned the values [of] . . . the movement were under threat.”