Zuma denies ANC strife

PRESIDENT Jacob Zuma flatly contradicted his deputy, Cyril Ramaphosa, in Parliament yesterday, denying the government was at war with itself.

Ramaphosa has repeatedly called for “decorum” and coherence from state actors following a bizarre sequence of events in which Mineral Resources Minister Mosebenzi Zwane claimed the cabinet had resolved to institute a judicial inquiry into a decision by the country’s major banks to close the accounts of companies owned by the Gupta family.

The Presidency subsequently denounced this statement as having been issued in Zwane’s personal capacity, but the minister stuck to his guns in Parliament last week, earning the wrath of the governing ANC, which said he had been arrogant and defiant.

Zwane’s statement rattled the markets and fuelled perceptions that tension in the governing ANC over the alleged “capture” of Zuma and certain ministers by the Guptas was making it impossible for them to govern in the national interest.

The ANC, Cosatu, and the SACP have called on Zuma to act against Zwane, and he announced yesterday he had been “engaging” with the minister over his statement.

However, in response to a question from DA leader Mmusi Maimane on the deputy president’s view that there was a war in the government, Zuma said: “You ask Ramaphosa.” It was merely a perception, he said, adding that if individuals made “statements about whatever” – referring to Zwane – “I don’t think we should balloon that and say there is a war”.

He also denied there was a fight between himself and the Treasury over the governance of state-owned companies, as speculated following confirmation that controversial SAA chairwoman Dudu Myeni, who is close to Zuma, had been returned to the position despite a disastrous tenure.

He disputed the notion that the ANC had been punished in the recent local government elections because of the scandals surrounding him.

It was “not true” that people had lost confidence in the governing party, Zuma said, adding that the combined vote for opposition parties was “a very small percentage”, despite the ANC’s slipping to its lowest percentage nationally since the first democratic elections.

Its 53.91% of total proportional representation and ward council votes left the combined opposition on 46.09%.

It also lost control of the Tshwane, Johannesburg and Nelson Mandela Bay metros, prompting ANC leaders to call for introspection to understand where the party went wrong, and calls from prominent ANC leaders and a number of branches for Zuma to go.

But an unruffled Zuma said yesterday no party had won the metros in question and it was only through coalitions that the ANC was kept out.

This did not support the claim that the result showed a loss of confidence in the ANC.

Coalitions were a sign that democracy was working, Zuma said.