Africa-Press – South-Africa. President Cyril Ramaphosa is unbothered by the criticism levelled at him by his predecessors as he believes it is based on innuendos, not fact.
This is according to Presidency spokesperson Vincent Magwenya, who addressed the media on Tuesday.
Magwenya said Ramaphosa actually inherited a corruption-riddled state which he had done his uttermost to turn around and criticising him publicly was a disingenuous move by former presidents Thabo Mbeki and Jacob Zuma in particular.
Magwenya said both Mbeki and Zuma “have direct access to Ramaphosa, and he [Ramaphosa] actually considered them as elder statesmen whose counsel he valued”.
He added that for the two former presidents “to shout at [Ramaphosa] from the rooftops” was not constructive.
Magwenya said that rather than publicly berating Ramaphosa, the former presidents should give “constructive criticism” that would help build a better South Africa for all.
The Presidency made the public remarks after Zuma, Mbeki, and former president Kgalema Motlanthe, addressing different platforms, criticised Ramaphosa and his administration.
Zuma accused him of “treasonous” behaviour for attending to his private business while he was president. Mbeki said criminals were leading the ANC, and Motlanthe said the country under Ramaphosa’s leadership was “at the precipice”.
Turning the tables on the former presidents, Magwenya said: “President Ramaphosa … inherited a state crippled [by] corruption, state capture and a stagnant economy.”
He added that the evidence presented before the state capture commission and the commission’s findings attested to the rot Ramaphosa inherited.
When asked how Ramaphosa could claim to have inherited the rot while he was Zuma’s second in command, Magwenya said Ramaphosa had responded to this during his testimony to the state capture commission, where he had claimed that he had done all in his power to stop the corruption.
During his testimony, Ramaphosa said, among other things, that he had almost resigned as South Africa’s deputy president over the 2015 “weekend special” saga that saw Zuma appoint Des van Rooyen as finance minister.
Magwenya outlined some of the achievements Ramaphosa and his administration had made, saying the president had embarked on a bold investment growth and employment drive.
This drive has, according to Magwenya, “raised R1.14 trillion in new investment commitments through four SA investment conferences.
“This is over 90% of the R1.2 trillion target for government’s ambitious investment drive. Of these commitments, around R330 billion has already flowed into the economy,” he said.
Magwenya added that it was important that those judging Ramaphosa and his tenure do so from an informed position and not merely just to score cheap political points.
He reiterated that it was not far-fetched to assume the former presidents’ utterances were made with the looming ANC national elective conference in mind.
“The president is not blind to the fact that there is an upcoming conference,” he said.
However, Magwenya quickly added that much of Ramaphosa’s time was taken up by his responsibility as president.
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