Zuma is selective
I AM TAKING no sides in the battle of Mangaung but the selective targeting of Limpopo's government is suspicious because North West, Mpumalanga and KwaZulu-Natal social development face similar situations. I am sure Matthew Phosa knows that, hence his support for Cassel Mathale.
VICTIM OF CIRCUMSTANCE? Premier Cassel Mathale. Picture by Elijar MushianaWhen Zuma was inaugurated in 2009, his close ally and Nkandla-born Mabheleni Ntuli got a R75m tender to manage the inauguration. Later in the same year, he donated R5m to the Jacob Zuma Education Trust.
In North West, tenders are awarded to companies close to Supra Mahumapelo, the ANC provincial chairperson. Premier Thandi Modise is being targeted like Mathale. Her sin is her closeness to those who want change at Mangaung.
Many people have been asking Zuma to explain sources funding his R65m house in Nkandla. The former KZN MEC for social development, Dr Meshack Hadebe, has three houses and one is valued at R10m, which are far above his housing subsidy. He even employed his daughter to occupy a senior post in the department when she was fresh from university.
Zuma's children, wives and nephews have become millionaires since 2009. His predecessors never used access to state power to enrich their families. The media exposed that the president's girlfriend, Nompumelelo Mhlongo, received a tender for catering for KZN MPLs in Pietermaritzburg provincial legislative assembly.
Every South African knows that millions of rands were collected by the Friends of Jacob Zuma Trust and many donors are repaid by awarding them tenders or government employment.
To me, Malema and Zuma are two sides of the same coin, plundering the state. Limpopo is used to score points ahead of Mangaung.
Danny Machaka
Vryburg
