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Comments attributed to ANC Youth League Secretary-General Njabulo Nzuza on Tuesday 25 October 2016 against Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa are unfortunate and without substance.

We wish to reiterate that Deputy President Ramaphosa's statement on the matter of the Minister of Finance Pravin Gordhan is consistent with official responses of President Jacob Zuma, the Cabinet of the Republic and the ruling party. The support of Deputy President Ramaphosa on this issue is based on none other than the constitutional principle of presumption of innocence until proven guilty by a competent court of law.

We therefore call upon commentators on this matter to familiarise themselves with the contents of Deputy President Ramaphosa's statement before offering commentary. In this context the following aspects of the statement would be of assistance to such commentators:

"I am fully cognisant of the role that the NPA has to play in building a democratic society. In this regard, we respect the constitutional mandate that the NPA has to discharge without fear, favour or prejudice. This mandate has to be balanced against the constitutional rights of all individuals, including the right to be presumed innocent until proven guilty by a court of law.

"The situation requires of all South Africans to demonstrate unity in defence of constitutional values, the integrity of our legal system and the objective of setting South Africa on a path of sustainable and inclusive economic growth that will help us overcome poverty, unemployment and inequality.

"In this regard and whatever the legal challenges that Minister Gordhan may face, we must not undermine the work that the government jointly with leaders of business and labour have been doing to stimulate domestic and international investment in our economy and have yielded impressive outcomes across a range of industrial sectors”

Deputy President Ramaphosa stands by the legal principles enunciated in this statement.

Issued by the Presidency