We are doing all we can to root out corruption – Zuma

AMID growing calls for President Jacob Zuma to be held accountable for his alleged role in state capture, he believes his administration is doing all it can to root out corruption.

Zuma says statements by opposition parties casting doubt on the government’s work in this regard are therefore misleading and inaccurate.

“In fact, it is because government has dedicated a lot of effort in combating corruption, both in the public and the private sector, that corruption has occupied a priority space in public dialogue,” Zuma said in a written reply to a question from the National Council of Provinces.

He was responding to a question from Mpumalanga DA MP, Farhat Essack on how he would deal with the graft “which has permeated South Africa”.

Former public protector Thuli Madonsela’s report and the so-called Gupta links, and more recently the evidence before Parliament’s Inquiry into Eskom, have all placed the president at the heart of the state capture.

Yesterday Zuma listed “a plethora of measures” he said were being implemented to curb corruption, both in government and the private sector.

The president said his administration continued the fight against cor- ruption first instituted at the advent of democracy, and that numerous measures had been adopted to eradicate corruption. The president cited South Africa’s eight-rank increase on the 2017 corruption barometer over the past four years.

Zuma said the government had adopted a multi-agency approach on which comprehensive “anti-corruption architecture” had been created, and a “resilient anti-corruption system was in place”.

He pointed out how in 2010 he’d established the Anti- Corruption Inter- Ministerial Committee, led by Minister in the Presidency Jeff Radebe.

“Since 2009 to date, I have signed 84 proclamations authorising the Special Investigating Unit to investigate maladministration and corruption in government and state institutions,” he said.

Zuma’s claims came as his deputy, Cyril Ramaphosa, told a media briefing that Zuma should appear before an inquiry into state capture.

Former public protector Thuli Madonsela’s state of capture report recommended that the commission be headed by a judge chosen by Chief Justice Mogoeng Mogoeng. On Thursday, Ramaphosa said he saw no reason as why the president would refuse to testify before the inquiry.