For a chess player, South African President Jacob Zuma has a decidedly weak grasp of strategy. Instead of calling in sick – or inventing some important meeting like he did in Davos – this time he actually showed up in Parliament as scheduled. It only served to turn up the heat on a faltering Presidency and his crony capitalist pals. Zuma’s answers are believable only to Zupta die-hards. They have spurred on the forces of democracy, in whose vanguard is ANC veteran Barbara Hogan who was first to break ranks after Nenegate when calling for Zuma to resign. Hogan, life partner of Nelson Mandela’s fellow Rivonia Trialist and Robben Islander Ahmed Kathrada, is calling on those still standing by Zuma to come to their senses: “I appeal to them to stand back.”  Despite damning statements from would-be cabinet ministers Vytjie Mentor, then Mcebisi Jonas and, today, former Mining Minister Ngoako Ramathlodi, Zuma continues to follow the line he and the Guptas have concocted: they are just good friends; the Zumas employed at Gupta Inc get no special favours; the Guptas get no support from the organs of State. That has the same credibility as the “independent” investigation of Pravin “Mr Clean” Gordhan by the Hawks, and its Zuma-appointed, severely compromised head. The ANC Top Six publicly announced they visited with the Guptas earlier this month. The visit, and disclosure thereof, are unprecedented. Read the comments by Gwede Mantashe in the Reuters story below and you get a good idea of how he, Zweli Mkhize, Cyril Ramaphosa and Jessie Duarte – and their supporters – are playing this particular end game. Far, far better than the chess devotee from Nkandla. – Alec Hogg
By Wendell Roelf
CAPE TOWN, March 17 (Reuters) –
South African President Jacob Zuma fought back on Thursday against suggestions that a prominent business family might have been behind his abrupt sacking of a finance minister, a move which shook confidence in the country’s economic management.
Facing calls for his resignation, Zuma tried to deflect questions over his dismissal of Nhlanhla Nene in December, but drew opposition accusations that he had failed to explain his role in a decision which provoked political and financial chaos.
The episode, in which three men occupied one of the most important government portfolios in five days, helped to send the South African currency down nearly 10 percent in December.
After firing Nene, Zuma appointed a junior politician with no record of national financial management to the post, before rapidly backtracking and summoning a past finance minister.
The government was rocked on Wednesday by suggestions that the Gupta family may have been behind Zuma’s decision to sack the respected finance minister Nhlanhla Nene in December.
Deputy Finance Minister Mcebisi Jonas said the Guptas, whose businesses stretch from media to mining, had offered him Nene’s job but he rejected it. The Guptas denied making job offers to anyone in government.
Jonas said he had rejected the approach at the time, and a leading newspaper reported he had received an apparently threatening warning to keep quiet before making his allegations.
Zuma told parliament he was not the right man to question on the allegations. “If Jonas says he was offered by the Guptas, I think you will be well-placed to ask the Guptas, or Jonas. Don’t ask me. Where do I come in?” he said. “I never offered Jonas the ministry. That’s why he is the deputy minister.”
Mmusi Maimane, leader of the biggest opposition party, the Democratic Alliance, called on Zuma to resign, saying he had failed to answer his question on why Nene had been fired.
Maimane also criticised the ruling African National Congress (ANC) after the exchange in parliament, which led to his being ordered out of the chamber.
“I pressed the president on this point, I was asked by the Speaker of the National Assembly, Baleka Mbete, to leave the House. This is yet another chapter in the story of how the ANC in parliament protects Jacob Zuma at any cost.”
Read also: President Zuma: No Gupta-hired Ministers – “I appoint”
The country’s main financial newspaper, Business Day, said that Jonas received a text message from a “prominent businessman” telling him to be quiet shortly before he made his accusation in a statement on Wednesday.
“Please keep your own counsel. Martyrdom is best left to Christ,” the text message read. The paper did not identify the sender or say how it had seen the message, beyond citing sources close to Jonas. Jonas was not immediately available to comment.
The opposition in parliament called for Zuma to resign.
The claims concerning the Guptas have erupted during a prolonged confrontation between Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan, who eventually replaced Nene, and the elite Hawks police unit. That has raised concerns about a possible repeat of the run on the rand and bonds seen in December when Nene was fired.
Above board
Zuma has previously said his ties with the family are above board. His son, Duduzane, is a director with Gupta family members of six companies, documents show.
“The rotten forces are on the back foot,” said Barbara Hogan, a former cabinet minister and leading anti-apartheid activist. “To those people who believe they still need to defend Zuma and have benefited from a close relationship with the Guptas, I appeal to them now to stand back.”
The secretary general of the ruling African National Congress (ANC) party said no one was untouchable, including Zuma, but the party had not discussed whether to remove the president.
“He’s not untouchable, he’s the president,” Gwede Mantashe told Reuters. “Why should we see this as a crisis instead of a positive? It will embolden people to come to the fore … so we can find the business people who are tampering within the ANC.”
Read also:Â DA lays corruption charges against Guptas, Duduzane Zuma
The ANC’s youth wing said it would ask the party to remove Jonas from his post, while the trade minister Rob Davies said he knew him “as man of honesty and integrity.”
Cabinet minister Ngoako Ramathlodi told Reuters the influence of the Gupta family would be a serious issue and would be discussed at a meeting of the party conference this weekend.
In his statement, Jonas said he rejected the Guptas’ offer “out of hand”, saying it made a mockery of South Africa’s 22-year-old democracy.
Nene declined to comment when reached by Reuters.
Moody’s analysts were due to visit South Africa on Wednesday of this week after putting its Baa2 credit rating on review. Its office here declined to confirm if they had arrived.
Investors fear further political uncertainty could hasten a downgrade, with Fitch and Standard & Poor’s already rating the country just one step above subinvestment grade.
South Africa’s central bank trimmed its growth forecast to 0.8 percent from 0.9 percent, as it raised its benchmark repo rate by 25 basis points to 7.0 percent as it tries to tame rising inflation despite slow growth.
The rand, which was weakened by Gordhan confrontation with police, recovered on Thursday after the Federal Reserve left U.S. interest rates unchanged, putting pressure on the dollar.
Analysts said Zuma was under pressure over the accusations against the Guptas.
“I have South Africa at the top of my blacklist on currencies that I don’t like,” said Cristian Maggio, the head of Emerging Markets Strategy at TD Securities in London.
Maggio thought Zuma would hold on. “I doubt he will resign, and I don’t think that other senior ANC officers will put in any other way meaningful pressure on him to do so,” he said.
“Irrespective of the truth, or otherwise, of the stunning allegations … Mr Zuma should resign here and now for the sake of the country and for the sake of his party,” Gary van Staden, an economist at NKC African Economics said.
