Earlier this year, we finally managed to rid this country of a truly corrupt president, and now the DA is claiming to have evidence that the current president might have been involved in state capture – or at the very least knew about it.

In light of this, DA leader Mmusi Maimane has called on President Cyril Ramaphosa to appear before the state capture commission.

Maimane said that, given his position, Ramamphosa must have known about the “wholesale corrupt capture of the ANC and of National Government and its entities in government”, reports TimesLIVE.

“The DA is also in possession of email communication which appears to suggest while he was Deputy President‚ Ramaphosa’s office assisted in the identity change of an individual with close ties to Gupta associate Ashu Chalwa. I will be submitting this to the President’s Office requesting a full explanation‚” he said in a statement.

The state capture commision is investigating claims that the Gupta family used their relationship with former president Jacob Zuma to secure government contracts. Here are the questions that Maimane wants Ramaphosa to answer at the enquiry:

• At what stage he became aware of the capture of the ANC and the national government and its entities;

• What steps he took subsequent to becoming aware of such;

• As Chairperson of the Inter-ministerial Committee on State-Owned Enterprises (SOEs) while Deputy President‚ what knowledge he had on the appointment of Gupta-friendly individuals to SOE boards;

• Why he personally appointed several individuals with ties to the Guptas to his first Cabinet on 26 February 2018; and

• Whether he was aware of any “special work” being performed for the Guptas and their associates by his office while he was Deputy President.

Maimane says that South Africans deserve a president who is willing to take “bold action against corruption”. It’s for this reason that he wants Ramaphosa to appear before the Zondo Commission.

That won’t be happening for a while, for many reasons, the chief of which is that Deputy Chief Justice Raymond Zondo has allowed for Pravin Gordhan’s testimony at the state capture inquiry to be postponed until November 15, and Barbara Hogan’s testimony has also been postponed until November 12.

In other words, the brakes have been pumped for a month:

The wheels of justice sure do turn slowly.

[source:iol&timeslive]