JUSTICE MALALA: How Jacob Zuma is waging a dirty war against Cyril Ramaphosa
'The so-called Zuma faction is fighting on all fronts to continue the looting, patronage networks and impunity of the past 10 years'
EXTRACT
In time, more details will emerge of how close to the brink of a totalitarian state South Africa came in those crazy days in February 2018 as the ANC tried to dislodge Zuma from power.
It was clear on the afternoon of February 14, when Zuma gave that rambling, incoherent interview to the SABC, that the man was in the grip of mental agony. Our future lay in the hands of a man who was flirting with dictatorship.
What is extraordinary about the whole situation is that it was the very same Zuma who egged on his minions in the ANC, people like Zwelinzima Vavi and Julius Malema, to shaft Thabo Mbeki way back in September 2008. He expected Mbeki to fully comply with the ANC request to step down, which Mbeki did in a visionary and moving address to the nation.
In February this year rumours of a possible state of emergency swirled as the ANC dispatched its top leaders to the Union Buildings to convince Jacob Zuma to vacate the president’s chair. He wouldn’t. He was stubborn and rude, railing against his fellow comrades like a wounded bull. Last week author and columnist Jonny Steinberg put a little bit more flesh on the bones of what we knew as mere rumours and speculation at that time. People around key ANC leaders were so convinced of the possibility of a state of emergency that senior counsel was being consulted about the consequences of such a move.The picture he evokes of what could have happened is breathtaking: the army on the streets, some ANC leaders and opposition politicians detained, the press gagged and NGOs shut down. In time, more details will emerge of how close to the brink of a totalitarian state South Africa came in those crazy days in February 2018 as the ANC tried to dislodge Zuma from power. It was clear on the aftern...
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