Editor misleading South Africans

THE ARTICLE “Dangerous antiANC double standards” (The Star, August 14) by the editor of The Citizen, Steven Motale, refers.

While Mr Motale is entitled to express his own view on President Jacob Zuma’s performance, it is important that South Africans are not misled. Sadly, Mr Motale’s contribution fails to reference a number of important facts about the president’s term in office.

For the sake of clarity, and in the interests of accurate reporting, we wish to bring just a few of the important details to Mr Motale’s attention.

There are 1.6 million more people without jobs than when President Zuma took office in 2009. He has presided over significant policy uncertainty, contradictory economic plans, and failure to ensure rapid economic growth that could create the jobs we need.

President Jacob Zuma has over 700 unanswered charges of corruption, fraud and racketeering against him. He has done everything possible to avoid his day in court so as to not answer these charges, including a lengthy and costly court battle to hand over the now-infamous “spy tapes” to the DA.

While all organs of state are required to protect Chapter Nine institutions, the president has failed to act on the recommendations of the public protector’s report on Nkandla. Instead, he has unashamedly asked that the minister of police, who reports to him, conduct a whitewash report that exonerates him. He still has not taken any steps to pay back part of the money he owes the public.

The events that led to the escape of Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir represents a clear violation of the president’s oath to obey, observe, uphold and maintain the constitution and the rule of law. In effect, the president and his government opted to disobey our own law so that a man involved in the genocide of hundreds of thousands of people could escape. The DA has already taken steps to impeach Mr Zuma for this shameful conduct.

This follows the “Guptagate” scandal in 2013, where “friends” of the president abused both the law and state resources to land at the Waterkloof Air Force Base. No senior minister has been held to account for this incident, despite the links to the president and his government.

Even more concerning is the president’s complete inaction on the Farlam Commission Report emanating from the murder of 44 people in Marikana in 2013. While the widows of those slain battle from day to day, just to survive, the president and his government have taken no action against the former minister of police, Nathi Mthethwa, and the national police commissioner, General Riah Phiyega. This list could continue. The reality is that if anyone should apologise to South Africa, it is President Jacob Zuma.

The DA will continue to hold the president to account for his failure to create jobs, fight corruption, and deliver basic services for all South Africans; and we will continue to work towards building a society based on freedom, fairness and opportunity for all.

DA national spokeswoman