RSA: Media Statement on the Report by Mandy Wiener: “How Gigaba Ignored a Legal Opinion on Challenging the Guptas’ Citizenship” (17.10.2018)

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While indicted, Zuma still get’s paid in full!

There are something seriously wrong, as the State Capture Commission is on the works and the African National Congress (ANC) are slowing the process, as the Gupta businesses, the direct state corruption and all the back-logs of cases against the former South African President continues. This case has prolonged and pushed back, as the indictment of the previous President took so many years.

That is why Jacob G. Zuma are now in trouble, but the state is not clearing the shop. They are not going hard on the evidence or anything seemingly, as Zuma didn’t do this business and transactions alone. Zuma did it with the help of ANC as well. To enrich himself and his family, use the foreign investors family and state owned enterprises as vaults of funds to spend.

Zuma and his works for years are in the Courts combined with certain corruption scandals, but not all of them. We can wonder who will be implicated and whose family members that will be touched. As the Republic of South Africa and ANC should want to move-on, but they still need clarity of the crimes and the stolen funds. As the long time misuse of government funds is known, the amounts of scandals and possible embezzlement should clearly cost for the former President.

However, just as the Commission is doing its work, they are giving the bonafide thief a pension of 3 millions a year. We can just wonder what kind of spell Zuma has done to the ANC. As they accepted his business and his toying around with government funds. That was accepted, the ANC Executive Committee and others didn’t stop it. They didn’t silence it, Zuma and his associates was allowed to do so. Even as the ‘No Confidence’ votes came to the National Assembly, but the ANC stayed loyal for so long.

Therefore, the latest movement of giving him a pension is an insult, as the investigations, as the State Capture and the Corruption Cases are unfolding. The Previous President should be prosecuted and answer for what he did, together with his associates, even if that hit the core of ANC. That is if the ANC cares about justice and rule of law. They can answer as, we know Zuma wasn’t alone and they shielded him, because they all earned on these transactions. The Gupta, The Nkandla and the Arms Trade are all in same fashion. Zuma is the head, but the ANC accepted it and used the Ministries to vouch for him.

They are now even paying him fortunes for his retirement, as Zuma are now answering for his crimes. He has to be sentenced and in bracelets. For now he is free, but hopefully Zuma will pay for his actions. As he stole from the state coffers and made himself a village. That is a crime and the ANC should also take responsibility. It is the time to do so, Zuma is the head, but the party was behind him. They kept him and accepted his actions.

Zuma is a corrupt politician and was known for being so, still the ANC promoted his leadership and his actions. That shall be remembered. He deserves a trial and answer for what he did, but not alone, the rest of his associates should do to. Peace.

Soon, the Final Blow for Jacob Zuma, as he is indicted!

Maan, this was a slow train coming, so slow, it was close to glacier slow. This was insanely long ride around and around, where the Executive and Long-Con of Jacob G. Zuma could get away with insane amounts of alleged crimes. I cannot remember anyone else having such levels of corrupt behavior and walking around like it didn’t matter. That is because he could and he lived lavish this way. What is sad is how he ate of the state, used State Enterprises and made illegal tenders to companies that paid him off. That is what he did and now does the ghosts of the past haunt him.

People can wonder why it took so long, why the past crimes are hunting him now, but the system comes your way, when your not needed or not even salvaging it. If he could directly indict and allege crimes on others in the near space of power. They would have been careful taking down the former President. But they seem not to care. That today he was indicted for fraud, money laundering, racketeering and false statements on tax returns. Clearly, this is going back to the ‘arms deal’, that was the ending of the Mbeki Presidency. This is so the current African National Congress is directly hurt.

This is political, but also about time. There are many cases and many business deals that could have been indicted for, there are many questionable activity that Zuma could face. This is just the first, as he has stifled the state with the bill of 15 million rand for stopping the investigations and the trials of cases going to court.

What is special about the indictment sheet in the scenario, is that the state was waiting for 11 years to serve it. Especially the ones released to the public. That means the state was saving this from 2007 and serving the criminal in 2018. This shows the intent and the hard-work of Zuma to not be put in court. As he as the head of state, couldn’t become a criminal for his economic activity.

The, then President, used his methods and expertise, he used his political power and his associates to fix deals, secure kickbacks, to earn wealth on the state bidding. That is why the state has the rights to indict him for the ‘arms deal’, which was the ending of Mbeki, is now the one that might be the final nail in the coffin of Zuma’s legacy. If should have been anything, it should be his house in Dubai, his Nkandla Village Project and the whole Gupta based economy project, that made the Republic in junk status.

Well, that would hurt the ANC of today, this indictment doesn’t hurt political operatives right now. Unless, Zuma has something up his sleeve, he is a man for the long-con, but the final state of affairs is getting closer and he hasn’t the powers or rich-friends to bail him out. There is no direct get-out jail free-card. That is if he doesn’t have skeletons in the closet, that he is willing to use to destroy the party and the ones in power right now. Than he is really ruthless and revenging, the ones who brought him down. Peace.

Roadblocks ahead for South Africa’s Ramaphosa after Moody’s win (28.03.2018)

Ramaphosa has promised to speed up the transfer of land to black people, but has stressed the need to preserve food security.

JOHANNESBURG, South Africa, March 28, 2018 – South Africa’s new president Cyril Ramaphosa will need to call on all his dealmaking skills to overhaul ailing state-owned firms and tackle land reform if he wants to capitalise on Moody’s decision not to downgrade the country’s debt to junk.

Moody’s said its decision to keep South Africa’s rating at investment grade reflected its view the country’s institutions would regain strength under more transparent and predictable policies – though the new government had to stay on track.

Since replacing Jacob Zuma in February, Ramaphosa has reappointed the finance minister his predecessor fired in 2015, sacked some ministers allied to Zuma, put another respected former finance minister in charge of struggling state-owned firms and suspended the head of the revenue service.

“It’s a big deal,” political analyst Ralph Mathekga said about Moody’s decision. “What he has been able to achieve in two months is to reverse some of Zuma’s influence in key sectors. The message he sent is: ‘I can do more’.”

After his whirlwind start, Ramaphosa’s challenges now include keeping the unions on side as the government overhauls cash-strapped national carrier South African Airways (SAA) and heavily indebted state power utility Eskom.

Perhaps his stiffest test will be to push through land expropriation, as promised, to address racial disparities in ownership – while keeping the left wing of the ruling African National Congress (ANC) on board and not scaring off investors.

Parliament passed a motion last month seeking to change the constitution to allow land expropriation without compensation. Ramaphosa has promised to speed up the transfer of land to black people, but has stressed the need to preserve food security.

“A big deliverable is to initiate the land debate under his leadership to control the narrative and discourse. Should he fail to do this, he runs the risk of undoing the good work already done,” said Daniel Silke, director of Political Futures Consultancy.

Ramaphosa’s negotiating skills have been respected for decades, ever since Nelson Mandela turned to the former trade union boss to lead the successful negotiations to end white minority rule.

More recently, Ramaphosa had to strike a fine balance between applying pressure on Zuma to go, while still affording him a dignified exit. Now, same analysts say land reform is Ramaphosa’s litmus test.

“Are we over-estimating Ramaphosa’s ability to deal with this land issue? It is undoubtedly one of his biggest challenges. Investors are worried about this and watching him very closely,” said independent political analyst Nic Borain.

‘GOOD NEGOTIATOR’

When it comes to South Africa’s struggling state-run companies, Ramaphosa will need to perform a similar balancing act and he has already named respected former finance minister Pravin Gordhan as minister of public enterprises.

Eskom and SAA are both weighed down by massive wage bills but the country’s powerful unions are likely to dig in their heels at any attempt to cut jobs, especially with elections looming in 2019.

Influential labour leaders, sections of the ANC and the opposition Economic Freedom Fighters are also likely to balk at any moves to partially privatise the companies, which is one strategy backed by the Treasury.

South African Airways runs one of Africa’s biggest fleets but years of operational losses have left it on the brink of bankruptcy. It needed a bailout in July to repay debt and 20 billion rand ($2 billion) in state guarantees to keep it afloat.

Eskom received a 5-billion rand loan in February from the state’s Public Investment Corporation (PIC), which holds a large amount of government bonds and ranks as Africa’s biggest investment fund, or it would have defaulted on its debts.

“There is going to be some tension when these job cuts are announced. It is a delicate balance because it could impact the support base of the party ahead of next year’s elections,” said Borain.

Still, Ramaphosa has already taken the politically risky step of raising value-added tax (VAT) for the first time since apartheid to try to reduce the budget deficit and analysts say he is unlikely to back down on reforms.

“He did not give in to populism on the VAT; this was a good example of him having to do something unpopular but necessary,” Borain said. “He is known to be a good negotiator.”

Finance minister Nhlanhla Nene expressed hope on Monday that S&P Global Ratings and Fitch might also look favourably on South Africa during upcoming reviews, saying investors he had met at a roadshow in London before Moody’s decision were upbeat.

S&P downgraded South African local currency debt to “junk” in November citing a deterioration in the economic outlook and public finances. Fitch cut its rating in April to sub-investment grade after Zuma fired Gordhan as finance minister. S&P will publish its review on May 25. Fitch has not given a date.

“I want to call this a honeymoon phase – and it is for that reason that we cannot be complacent about it,” Nene told Talk Radio 702.

South Africa: Statement of the African National Congress Following the Meeting of the National Executive Committee from the 23rd to the 25th March 2018 (25.03.2018)

RSA: President Ramaphosa written response to EFF Malema on Zuma’s Personal Legal Cost (22.03.2018)

RSA: SARS Commissioner Thomas Moyane letter to President Cyril Ramaphosa – “Urgent” (19.03.2018)

RSA: President Ramaphosa Letters on Violation of The Executive Ethics Code by Douglas Van Rooyen and Lynne Brown (01.03.2018)

Hon. Gigaba Stop Lying, your bad at it!

“You can fool some of the people all of the time, and all of the people some of the time, but you can not fool all of the people all of the time.” – Abraham Lincoln

I don’t know if Minister of Home Affairs Malusi Gigaba is stupid, but unwise he is in the matter of naturalization of the Citizenship of the Gupta Family and residence as the Inquiry into the State Capture takes into effect. President Cyril Ramaphosa, should consider to appoint someone else. Unless, he likes to have someone as a punchline in his cabinet?

Honorable Gigaba answered yesterday in disregard to his own verdicts, which counters his own paper-trail. That is why he is foolish to state things like this: “Home Affairs Minister Malusi Gigaba has confirmed that Gupta brothers, Ajay and Atul are not South African citizens” (…) “Gigaba says, “There has been an argument that there was a decision to favour this family by expediting their application, their appeal, but maliciously granting them SA citizenship. We need to clarify that their application was done in 2013, it was rejected in 2014, they appealed and based on the documents submitted the decision was overturned.” (…) “They were asked to renounce the citizenship of the country of origin, and Ajay declined. Therefore he is not an SA citizen. He is a permanent residence permit holder which he received in 2008,” adds Gigaba” (SABC – ‘Ajay and Atul Gupta are not South African citizens: Gigaba’ 06.03.2018).

So there are something weird in the statements from the minister, that he mentions other times than when he suddenly sent a letter to the Gupta family on the 30^th May 2015, which stated: “I have decided by the virtue of the powers vested in me under section 5(9) of the South African Citizenship Amendment Act 2010 (Act no 17 of 2010) to waive the residential requirements in regards to your application for naturalisation and grant you early naturalisation” (Gigaba Letter to Mr. A K Gupta and Family – ‘Application for Early Naturalisation: Yourself” 30.05.2015). So on the 30^th May of 2015, he used his powers as minister to give the Gupta Family early citizenship. This because he could. Therefore, he has been lying now, because the chips is down and he wont be someone who executed parts of the State Capture. He is trying to clean his hands of the dirt. But when you have been in public and used the “powers vested in me”, you either stupid or your were pocketing funds from them.

That that monies helped his judgment as even the same problem came back, as the Ministry of Finance has to offer their consideration of the matter on the 13^th June of 2017, where they stated: “The granting of naturalisation certificates of this nature is not unusual. Similar courtesies have been extended to prominent businessmen, including executives of multi-nationals, and sports people. There is no impropriety on the part of the Minister in relation to how the application in question has been handled” (Ministry of Finance – ‘Minister Malusi Gigaba Handled Gupta Naturalisation Application in a Lawful Manner’ 13.07.2017).

So the Ministry of Finance knew of the citizenship, they knew the process and defended it last year. As the documents show that the Minister gave it to them in 2015. When he defends himself he mentions the years of 2015 and not that exact time. Because he knows he used the powers vested in him. This didn’t take much research either and is all public records. The documents stated isn’t some confidential pieces of paper and internal memos, where Gigaba wrote that he loved his wife. No, this is public letters and known ones, which state the facts. He cannot run away from it. However, he is trying and failing bad at it.

Clearly, Gigaba is lying and needs to stop, he is bad at it. Please, just stop, you gave the rich wealthy friends of Zuma a free pass and gave them citizenship. They were kingmakers and fortune-tellers too, you wanted some quick bucks. This was your way in. Peace.

RSA: Presidency Statement on Public Protector Report on Van Rooyen (26.02.2018)