Ramaphosa likely to call for state capture charges

● Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa, in his first major speech as ANC leader next weekend, is likely to flag a special prosecution process on state capture independent of any commission of inquiry.

While President Jacob Zuma, pictured, and others implicated in state capture have stalled a proper investigation as called for by former public protector Thuli Madonsela, Ramaphosa wants to fasttrack prosecutions based on evidence of corruption that is already available.

The Sunday Timed can also reveal that the ANC’s new deputy president,

David Mabuza, held talks with

Zuma at an undisclosed venue yesterday. While the visit was seen by Zuma’s supporters as a gesture of unity, national executive committee members who have held discussions with Mabuza say he supports the move to remove Zuma.

ANC KwaZulu-Natal spokesman Mdumiseni Ntuli confirmed the meeting. He revealed that another top six official attended the meeting but refused to say who.

One senior NEC member said: “I can tell you for sure that it’s no longer whether, but when, he is recalled.”

Some leaders believe Zuma could still be

persuaded to resign and that the meeting with Mabuza could be part of that process.

Last month the High Court in Pretoria assigned Ramaphosa the power to appoint a national director of public prosecutions after invalidating Zuma’s appointment of Shaun Abrahams to the position.

Zuma has taken the judgment on appeal. He is also appealing the same court’s ruling that Chief Justice Mogoeng Mogoeng should appoint the judge to head the commission of inquiry into state capture.

Insiders say Ramaphosa wants the ANC to resolve that a special prosecutions team on state capture be established to commence work immediately.

While Zuma has remained holed up at Nkandla, Ramaphosa has been meeting his advisers, strategists and members of the new ANC NEC to shape his game plan.

According to some NEC members, the issue of Zuma’s recall has become a non-negotiable but is unlikely to happen ahead of the ANC’s 106th anniversary celebrations in East London this week.

The top six officials will meet in KwaZuluNatal today, for the first time since the elective conference last month, when they will pay a courtesy visit to King Goodwill Zwelithini at Nongoma.

An insider close to Ramaphosa said the meeting would discuss Zuma’s early exit. “The deal is that Zuma must resign himself. If he doesn’t, he will be impeached, and he will hitchhike from Cape Town to Nkandla.”

Cosatu general secretary Bheki Ntshalintshali told a Joe Slovo commemorative event in Soweto yesterday: “The ANC can’t have two centres of power. The ANC must have one president. One president can’t take a mandate from another president. That other president should step aside while we still love him.”

On Wednesday, the NEC will meet in East London and consider a draft of Ramaphosa’s speech next Saturday, setting out ANC and government programmes for the year.