IN QUOTES | From vaccines to Zuma & Ramaphosa: DA’s John Steenhuisen on ‘true state of the nation’

DA leader John Steenhuisen says there is no good or bad faction in the ANC, but rather South Africans have been misled to believe there are two factions in the ANC and the “good” one is righting the wrongs of the “bad” one.

Steenhuisen was speaking during what the DA called the “True State of the Nation Address” on Monday.

The DA leader said no-one should be exempt from accountability, including President Cyril Ramaphosa.

He criticised the ANC for its failure to take a stance on former president Jacob Zuma’s defiance of the Constitutional Court ruling which ordered him to appear and testify at the state capture inquiry, and ANC secretary-general Ace Magashule for defending his actions.

Here are five quotes from Steenhuisen's address:

Rich countries did not hoard vaccines 

“This is not because all those other bad countries hoarded the vaccines so we couldn’t buy them, as President Ramaphosa tried to spin when speaking to the World Economic Forum crowd. It’s because we were simply nowhere when they were all queuing in May, June and July 2020.”

State was captured long before Zuma became president

“The Guptas didn’t capture the state through Zuma and his allies in the ANC. The capturing part had happened a long time ago. What the Guptas did was simply loot this captured state with the help of a weak and greedy president.”

Cadre deployment is ruining health-care system

“Every broken health department and every dysfunctional education department across eight of our nine provinces can trace its demise directly back to the calibre of the cadres deployed to its leadership.”

Ramaphosa must answer questions at state capture inquiry

“It is imperative that Ramaphosa answers the questions we sent to the Zondo commission. South Africans need to know what his role was in the capture of the state, and where he stands on the policy today. He will need to accept responsibility for every deployment that happened on his watch.” 

What is the ANC's stance on Zuma defying the ConCourt?

“It is unthinkable that the secretary-general of the ANC can publicly support Zuma in defying the Zondo commission and the president of his party has nothing to say on the matter. In the absence of a statement from the president, people will fill in the blanks themselves.

“The only inference to be drawn from this is that the ANC itself supports Zuma in snubbing the Zondo commission, the Constitutional Court and the rule of law.”

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