‘Let the law take its course, on allegations against Ramaphosa’

Cape Town - Deputy President David Mabuza said law enforcement agencies should be allowed to investigate and make a determination on the allegations levelled against President Cyril Ramaphosa.

Responding to oral questions in the National Assembly, Mabuza said that he thought that issues around the robbery had been reported to the police.

“I take it that we should allow the respective law enforcement agencies to investigate without our interference and finally make their investigation known.

“If they want to charge the president, they will do so at the proper time. I think we should allow that process to unfold,” he said.

Mabuza was responding to questions from DA deputy chief whip Siviwe Gwarube.

He was also asked by EFF MP Hlengiwe Mkhaliphi if he was ready to assume the presidential responsibility if Ramaphosa resigned.

Mkhaliphi also asked whether Mabuza would convince him not to stay in office in the interests of the country. In his response, Mabuza said he did not think the situation had reached the point that Ramaphosa should step down.

“All I know is that a case has been opened and we have allowed the different institutions of our country to investigate and make a determination,” he said.

“Beyond that, probably a decision will be taken after a determination has been made, of which we can’t jump the gun and say this is going to be the determination,” Mabuza added.

The questions came with Ramaphosa under pressure to take the country into confidence over the theft of about R60 million at his Phala Phala farm in February 2020.

The theft and other alleged crimes reportedly linked to the incident were exposed in an explosive affidavit former State Security director-general Arthur Frazer filed with the police when he laid a charge at Rosebank police station last week.

During the question and answer session, Mabuza also fielded questions about load shedding and recent floods in KwaZulu-Natal and the Eastern Cape.

Asked what steps the government had taken to reduce load shedding, he said: “We understand the frustration our people face on a daily basis. We have explained more or less the reasons. Of course, South Africans don’t want the reasons, and hey want to hear the solutions,” Mabuza said.

However, Mabuza said it was important to reaffirm the reasons for the load shedding.

“We have new-build infrastructure that has design defects, Medupi and Kusile, which by now should be operating at full capacity, but because of design defects there are units that are not functional.”

He also said that some power plants were in operation beyond their lifespan.

“We push them very hard and the maintenance bill has gone high. It has become more expensive for Eskom,” the deputy president said.

Mabuza also said the unplanned breakdowns in the plants disrupted plans for Eskom to do planned maintenance, but there were plans in the 2019 Integrated Resource Plan that allowed for different energy alternatives to come into play.

“Years down the line there is the prospect of ending load shedding,” he said.

On the floods, Mabuza said the government had directed the province to reprioritise its budget.

He also said the government would do everything in its power to prevent corruption while the province was undergoing reconstruction.

“Whoever steals public resources is going to be dealt with. We will try our best to ensure no money is stolen,” he said, adding that risk mitigation measures had been put in place.

Cape Times