Ramaphosa: South Africa captured by corrupt elements
New South Africa President Cyril Ramaphosa. He has announced a large-scale infrastructure investment plan for 400 billion rand. PHOTO | GULSHAN KHAN | AFP
What you need to know:
- President Jacob Zuma has been embroiled in a series of corruption scandals but he denies any wrongdoing.
- ANC is also in talks over a transition after it elected Cyril Ramaphosa its leader, replacing Mr Zuma.
South Africa’s ruling ANC leader Cyril Ramaphosa says corrupt elements captured the state and new leadership is dealing with it.
In an interview with BBC Hardtalk’s Zeinab Badawi, he said: “Everyone agrees our state was captured by corrupt elements, by people who purported to be close to the president who have been doing really bad things getting into many state institutions.”
SCANDALS
He added that a commission of inquiry has been instituted to investigate the depths of state capture.
President Jacob Zuma, who was replaced by Mr Ramaphosa as ANC leader, has been embroiled in a series of corruption scandals but he denies any wrongdoing.
In the interview, Mr Ramaphosa also said President Zuma is feeling "anxious" about his future.
His term in office is not scheduled to end until elections in 2019 but there have been calls for him to be replaced by Mr Ramaphosa immediately.
The new ANC leader said everyone wants Mr Zuma’s tenure resolved. “Constitutionally, he has 18 months, and within these 18 months, obviously, a lot can happen.”
TRANSITION
Mr Ramaphosa added that he and President Zuma agreed to meet regularly and discuss the transition.
“A new dawn is in the horizon. We are now involved in a new era in South Africa. There’s a new leadership … we are dealing with this matter. And obviously the key matter that everyone wants to see addressed is the tenure that President Zuma still has to serve out,” he said.
“My key interest is to move the country forward. It’s not so much about what happens to an individual.”
