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Agence France-Presse

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa on Wednesday acknowledged there had been rampant state corruption while he was deputy to former president Jacob Zuma, but said he did not resign as that would have hampered his efforts to resist the rot.
Ramaphosa was appearing before a judicial panel probing the alleged mass looting of state coffers during Zuma’s 2009-2018 presidency.
He served as Zuma’s deputy for four years from 2014 before succeeding him in February 2018.
“I had five options: resign; speak out; acquiesce and abet; remain and keep silent; or remain and resist,” Ramaphosa said.

But had he quit his job, “this action would have significantly impaired my ability to contribute to bring about an end” to the graft, he argued.
Ramaphosa said he decided to stay in order to “resist some of the more egregious and obvious abuses of power.”
It is Ramaphosa’s second appearance before the panel.
Army will return order to South Africa after riots, says Ramaphosa
Zuma played cat-and-mouse with the commission, answering questions only once in 2019 before walking out, saying he was being treated like a criminal.
This year, the country’s top court ordered Zuma to return but he refused, and was last month handed a 15-month jail term for contempt.
The inquiry is a result of a 2016 investigation by the country’s ombudswoman which found evidence that Zuma allowed the Guptas, a wealthy Indian migrant business family who won lucrative contracts with state companies, undue influence over the government.
Ramaphosa came to power three-and-a-half years ago on a vow to fight corruption.


He told the panel that had he chosen to be confrontational under Zuma, he would have risked being fired, and “my ability to effect change would have been greatly constrained, if not brought to an end”.
Since taking office, Ramaphosa said he has taken strides in clearing out corruption through empowering the national prosecution and more recently, having the state’s Covid-19 pandemic funding scrutinised by auditors.
Yet, Ramaphosa has been criticised for being slow to act on graft scandals that have creeped up under his reign.
His recent health minister Zweli Mkhize, who resigned earlier this month, faces allegations of benefitting himself and his family through a Covid-19-related communications contract.
‘I fear for my safety’: working women hit hard by South Africa taxi gang wars
During his first appearance before the commission in April, Ramaphosa admitted that graft had taken root within the ruling African National Congress (ANC), which has governed the nation since the end of the apartheid in 1994.
The practice involved some ANC members and leaders, he said.
But on Wednesday, Ramaphosa vowed action saying things had changed.
“Now having drawn a line in the sand we are going now to be very serious dealing with corruption,” he told the panel. “You may say why didn’t you do so over a period of so many years but it’s better late than never.”
Ramaphosa’s testimony is scheduled to run through Thursday.
The graft inquiry will make recommendations to prosecutors when it concludes at the end of September.
Attendance at the hearing was limited due to Covid-19 restrictions, although opposition Democratic Alliance party leader John Steenhuisen and Ramaphosa’s wife Tshepo Motsepe were among those in the gallery.


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South Africa

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa admits corruption was rife under Jacob Zuma’s rule

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa. Photo: Reuters

FILE PHOTO: Former South African President Jacob Zuma, who is facing fraud and corruption charges, sings after his appearance in the High Court in Pietermaritzburg, South Africa, May 26, 2021. REUTERS/Rogan Ward/File Photo

South African ex-leader Jacob Zuma’s corruption trial resumes online without support crowd

South African ex-president Jacob Zuma’s supporters portray him as a defender of the poor. Photo: South Africa Judiciary via AP

Members of the South African Police Services on patrol outside the High Court in Pietermaritzburg, South Africa, Monday July 19, 2021, where the corruption trial of former South African President Jacob Zuma resumed. The trial continued more than a week after Zuma's imprisonment for contempt of court in a separate case set off rioting. (AP Photo/Shiraaz Mohamed)

A picture taken on July 19, 2021 shows a view of the of the High Court, where the graft trial of South African ex-president Jacob Zuma resume in the southeastern city of Pietermaritzburg. - The graft trial is held online in a bid to forestall another wave of the deadly unrest that swept the nation after he was jailed in an unrelated case. Although the proceedings were taking place virtually, security was tight around the High Court in Pietermaritzburg, the capital of Zuma's home region of KwaZulu-Natal, where Zuma loyalists have previously gathered in rowdy shows of support. (Photo by GUILLEM SARTORIO / AFP)

Violence continues in South Africa over jailing of former leader Jacob Zuma

Police officers detain a person during a protest as violence following the jailing of former South African President Jacob Zuma spread to Johannesburg, South Africa on Sunday. Photo: Reuters

(210708) -- JOHANNESBURG, July 8, 2021 (Xinhua) -- Former South African President Jacob Zuma attends a press conference at his home in Nkandla, Kwazulu Natal, South Africa, July 4, 2021. The police said on July 7, 2021 that Jacob Zuma surrendered himself to the police late Wednesday night. (Photo by Yeshiel/Xinhua)

People gather around the wreckage of a burned car in Jeppestown district, Johannesburg, on July 11, 2021. - Several shops are damaged and cars burnt in Jeppestown, Johannesburg, following a night of violence. Police are on the scene trying to control further protests. It is unclear if this is linked to sporadic protests following the incarceration of former president Jacob Zuma. (LUCA SOLA/AFP via Getty Images/TNS)

South African women fear commuting to and from work amid taxi gang wars

Vehicles parked at the Bara taxi bay in Soweto, South Africa. File photo: Reuters

A pedestrian walks past as taxi operators block the entrance to Ceramic Tile Market (CTM) and Birch Acres Mall with their vehicles in Tembisa, north of Johannesburg on July 14, 2021, in an attempt to prevent looting and vandalism. - Stores and warehouses in South Africa were hit by looters on July 13, for a fifth day running despite the troops President Cyril Ramaphosa deployed to try to quell unrest that has claimed 72 lives. As pillaging erupted in the economic capital of Johannesburg and the southeastern province of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa's main opposition accused radicals of stoking the unrest. (Photo by Phill Magakoe / AFP)

FILE - In this Sept. 16, 2020 file photo, customers have their nails done near the Baragwanath taxi rank in Soweto, South Africa. The country's success in bringing its first wave of COVID-19 under control has allowed it to almost fully reopen the economy, while monitoring for signs of a second surge, says the government's chief medical advisor. (AP Photo/Jerome Delay, File)

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Ramaphosa was appearing before a judicial panel probing the alleged mass looting of state coffers during Zuma’s 2009-2018 presidency
He served as Zuma’s deputy for four years from 2014 before succeeding him in February 2018



Cyril Ramaphosa served as Zuma’s deputy for four years from 2014 before succeeding him in 2018.


Crime