DA accuses Ramaphosa of failing to insulate govt from grand theft

24th October 2022 By: Sane Dhlamini - Creamer Media Senior Contributing Editor and Researcher

DA accuses Ramaphosa of failing to insulate govt from grand theft

Parliament Speaker Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula

Democratic Alliance (DA) Chief Whip Siviwe Gwarube on Monday said the party will be writing to Parliament Speaker Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula to act on the recommendations outlined in Chief Justice Raymond Zondo’s State capture report.

The DA said an action plan must be developed to action the wide-ranging recommendations of the judicial commission.

On Sunday President Cyril Ramaphosa briefed the nation on  government’s responses to the recommendations.

Gwarube accused Ramaphosa of being unclear on how government planned to “insulate government processes from grand theft” and added that Parliament must act as the last line of defence.

“The President simply provided an analysis of the Zondo Judicial Commission Report instead of stating what the executive he leads intends to do to insulate government processes from grand theft again,” said Gwarube.

In addition, she explained that nothing was said about bolstering capacity to do the kind of investigative work that was needed to prosecute those who plundered public money.

Ironically, on Saturday former president Jacob Zuma, who is deeply implicated in the State capture allegations, accused Ramaphosa of being corrupt and incompetent.

The DA, meanwhile, said it believed that the delays in implementing the recommendations were the result of Cabinet Ministers being implicated in State capture allegations.

Gwarube went on to call for Parliament to finally affirm its role as an independent arm of State that was constitutionally obliged to hold government to account.

“The Speaker of the National Assembly, Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula, has effectively abdicated Parliament’s responsibility to this process and stated that the institution should wait for the President to table his implementation report. This is despite the fact that Parliament did not need to wait for the President before undertaking a review on its oversight mechanisms,” added Gwarube.

She said the DA would not rest until the public service was rid of the greed of politicians and those who were politically connected.