Former president Jacob Zuma's presidency was marred by "madness and paralysis" as he and his strong faction in the governing African National Congress (ANC) did as they wished, former minerals minister Ngoako Ramatlhodi said while he testified before the state capture commission of inquiry on Wednesday.
Ramatlhodi - once a staunch Zuma supporter - was part of the pro-Zuma group in the ANC that wanted the former president to be re-elected for a second term at the Mangaung conference in 2012. Former president Kgalema Motlanthe challenged Zuma for the ANC presidency in Mangaung and lost.
Ramatlhodi recalled a conversation he had with ANC stalwart Mavuso Msimang leading up to the 2012 conference. Msimang asked him why he supported Zuma even though he knew that doing so would backfire.
"I said to him I do not want to see what we did to [former president Thabo] Mbeki, after which [ANC breakaway party Congress of the People] Cope was formed. So I was of the view that we should allow him [Zuma] to have his second term and err on the side of caution...but once he started doing what has been described here, chairperson, I could not look them [those against Zuma] in the eye. They had warned me that what we were about to do was going to fall flat in our faces,'' said Ramatlhodi.
Commission chairman Deputy Chief Justice Raymond Zondo asked whether the ANC national executive committee (NEC), the party's highest decision making body between conferences, was hapless over Zuma and his relationship with the Gupta family.
He inquired whether the NEC facilitated the continuation of the relationship. Ramatlhodi replied that the leadership could not do much as Zuma had too much power because he was backed by a very strong faction in the NEC.
"The power arises out of the support system within the NEC, that is where the power came from... you could speak until your face turned yellow, they [Zuma faction] would just look at you. At some point you would get tired of talking and just keep quite and watch at the NEC," said Ramatlhodi.
"We are now talking about the renewal of the ANC, at the back of that is to break up factions in the ANC, and ensure that we are able to make decisions in the interests of the country, and not for individuals.
"That is what we are trying to do...its not going to be easy because a faction grows like a tree...and you need to uproot it. We had a patronage that fed this tree...and patronage came from the top [Zuma]. We were able to remove the top... there is an element of progress."
The Zuma faction was in charge, and would caucus and impose decisions in the NEC, he said.
"If the faction wasn't able to do so, Zuma himself would do it. It was a period of madness and a paralysed NEC that watched helplessly. He auctioned off the executive to the Guptas who did as they wished and took away the State from the country's citizens."
African News Agency (ANA)