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Publication

CITY PRESS JHB

Page

1-2

Date

Sun 19 Aug 2018

AVE (ZAR)

79382.11

UY RAMA2R0USAAL =SA

FIGHTBACKFired and suspended leaders of major state entities say the president is usingstate machinery to figh

during state capture investigationsaimed at clawing back billions lost in public fundsSETUMO STONE and ABRAM MASHEGOnews@citypress.co.za

uspended and fired executives of state-ownedenterprises and their allies are bracing for openwarfare with President Cyril Ramaphosa, who theyaccuse of using state machinery to fight politicalbattles.

The coordinated plan to fight back revolves aroundthose who are linked to powerful current and former leaders ofmajor state entities, Matshela Koko and Brian Molefe of Eskom,Tom Moyane of the SA Revenue Service (Sars) and Siyabonga Gamaof Transnet, all of whom have been described by allies as faces of"black excellence" in management.The plan is to expose government's alleged foul play in various

ongoing state capture probes that form a part of Ramaphosa'sefforts to claw back billions in public funds allegedly looted duringformer president Jacob Zuma's administration.

The judicial commission of inquiry into state capture led byDeputy Chief Justice Raymond Zondo starts tomorrow inJohannesburg. The inquiry seeks to establish how the Gupta family,Zuma's benefact ors, were enabled to loot the state.

Ramaphosa's detractors have described Public EnterprisesMinister Pravin Gordhan as the current administration's "hitman".An unsigned document that was circulated this week accused theminister of a "selective drive" to oust Gama from Transnet usingthe state-owned enterprise's board chair Popo Molefe as a proxy.

"We urge President Ramaphosa to rein in this super primeminister ," wrote the unidentified authors.

Other fronts of the battle involve legal warfare, where each of the"targeted" would exhaust any means of litigation available to pushRamaphosa back, as well as lobby to win the support ofsympathetic ANC branches. The part of the plan involving the ANCwould culminate in a challenge against Ramaphosa's authority inthe party at its next national general council.

Koko threw the first punch this week in an article published inthe Daily Maverick in which he accused the state of sliding into"McCarthyism", referring to the role of the late US senator JosephMcCarthy, who conducted a witch-hunt for suspected communists.

Koko, who was out of the country, told City Press he had "nodoubt that some of us have been targeted".

"I meant it when I talked about the McCarthyists in our midst. Ifthere is a prima facie case against me, then, by all means, let thelaw take its course without prejudice," he said.

"What is happening here is that some of us are put aside in thename of fighting corruption, and nothing else happens after that. Inmy case, it is about the renewable energy independent powerproducer programme and the end state of the electricity supplyindustry. The personalities that are involved know it," he said.

Gama said "the time for me to comment on these matters hasnot yet come", and denied knowledge of the circulated documentaccusing Gordhan of plotting against him. Clockwise from top: Tom Moyane, Siyabonga Gama, Brian Molefe, Matshela Koko and President Cyril Ramaphosa

City Press has copies of letters Gama wrote to Popo Molefe thismonth, including one on Thursday that said "selected anduntested negative information" was leaked to the media to tarnishhis name.Gama said information came from incomplete Transnet

investigations into the locomotives tender and the intention wasto deliberately subject him to "a court of public opinion to passjudgement". Indications were also that Gama's letter waspreparing grounds for a tussle in the Labour Court.Gama, Transnet Engineering chief executive Thamsanqa Jiyane

and Transnet executive manager Lindiwe Mdletshe were givenuntil the end of business tomorrow to put their cases to theboard on why they should not be placed on suspension pendingfurther investigations.Gama wrote that, in one meeting, he was accused by one of the

board members of having presided over fraud, corruption andmalfeasance at Transnet.

"The statement undoubtedly created the impression that I wasan accomplice to and an enabler of corruption," he said.Gama warned the board not to take action based on an

"incomplete investigation; this will ensure that the Transnetbalance sheet is not unduly exposed to damage claims occasionedby a Transnet-commissioned report that misses key issues".

The contents of the letters shared similarities with thecirculated document, which also referred to Gama as arepresentative of black excellence.The document further stated that Gordhan's plan was to oust

Gama before Transnet's results announcement this week so thathe and the board could "take the limelight [and] steal thethunder". Former Sars chief operating officer Edward Kieswetterwas mentioned as Gama's possible replacement.

The authors said that "a Sars clique" was re-establishing itself atTransnet: "The desire for justice, reparation and clean governanceis not the sole mission of Gordhan, thus this fellow cannot usurpunto himself the holier-than-thou attitude or a supremacistposture in the anti-corruption fight."When called for comment, Moyane said he was "in a meeting",

while Brian Molefe did not respond to calls or messages.Gordhan told City Press it was time the country took "a firm

public stand against corruption" based on principle. He saidallegations against him were "a clear but desperate campaign bymany implicated individuals to cause public confusion, and todiscredit a bona fide legal process through which they have toaccount for their respective roles in corrupting and destroying thecapabilities of a number of state institutions".He said that the state entities affected by corruption were

critical for the economy to function effectively."We make no apology for doing what is in the best interests of

the country, and we must openly challenge whoever wrote thesedocuments and 'dossiers' to come out and put their names to this'fightback' campaign and to disclose in whose interests they act."

Continued on page 2

RAMAPHOSA FACES FIGHTBACIFrom page 1ANC national executive committee member

Zizi Kodwa has defended Ramaphosa, sayingthe fight against corruption, including statecapture, was an ANC resolution and not justone made by the president. Corruption was"the enemy of the revolution", Kodwa said.He said that all "deployed cadres" of the

ANC, including ministers, had a duty to fightcorruption in pursuit of this resolution. Hesaid Ramaphosa had "a constitutionalobligation to protect the state against anyform of maladministration, in improprietyand corruption".Presidency spokesperson Khusela Diko said

it was "the norm that people facingallegations of wrongdoing will look forscapegoats".

"Anyone who alleges misuse of statemachinery by the president or anyone must

raise those with our law enforcementagencies as no one is above the law," Dikosaid.A chief lieutenant in the Zuma camp told

City Press that the midterm national generalcouncil, which is scheduled for the middle of2020, could be brought forward if two-thirdsof the ANC's branches called for it."All we need is the majority of branches in

KwaZulu-Natal, and a few here and there insmaller provinces," said the insider, addingthat this was an option available outside ofthe more tedious approach of getting fiveANC provinces to support the lobby.The person said that Ramaphosa used

every opportunity available to speak againstcorruption, "but not once have you heardhim speak against the use of state machineryto fight political battles".KwaZulu-Natal is Zuma's home province

and the biggest in the ANC in terms ofmembership. The new KwaZulu-Natal ANCleadership's call for the party to review itsstance against public support for Zuma in histrial has been seen as confirmation that theyare still sympathetic towards him.In Limpopo, the provincial ANC expected

Ramaphosa to back its plans to saveembattled VBS Mutual Bank or lose itssupport, while those in the Eastern Capehave complained that the president was nolonger "accessible".A Zuma sympathiser said that Ramaphosa

could learn something from Zuma in that "heallowed government to run itself and madesure that he did not lose control of theANC".

"Gordhan would become to Ramaphosawhat the Guptas were to Zuma if he was notcareful," said the person.

But those backing Ramaphosa said that hehad done well to consolidate his power inthe top six, isolating Zuma allies ANCsecretary-general Ace Magashule and hisdeputy, JessieDuarte.The leader said that Ramaphosa's backers

had also won two conferences in the spaceof a month, citing the examples of thecomposition of Gauteng and Limpopo ANCstructures.A Zuma ally said he was not aware of the

retaliation plan.

TALK TO USDo you think that a challenge againstRamaphosa could succeed? What liesbehind the fightback?SMS us on 35697 using the keyword FIGHTand tell us what you think. Please include yourname and province. SMSes cost R1.50