Zuma’s unanswered questions

“The charges against Zuma were dropped on the grounds that there was collusion between Leonard McCarthy, the former head of the Directorate of Special Operations (DSO), and former NPA boss Bulelani Ngcuka. This was after among others, transcripts of telephone calls between the two men were investigated and found to amount to manipulation and abuse of process. Mpshe said the merits of the charges and whether Zuma was guilty or not had not been taken into account in the decision. ‘We are not dealing with the merits, we are dealing with abuse of process … It does not mean an acquittal.’ Keeping an even demeanour, Mpshe said while the charges had been dropped, the information uncovered into the abuse and misconduct would be further investigated.” News 24

As we have repeatedly outlined the legal basis upon which the charges may be dropped I don’t propose sifting through that crap again. Mpshe is wrong hereendthelesson.

However in light of the “basis” furnished, Mpshe has no choice BUT to proceed against McCarthy and Ngcuka immediately. If he doesn’t have sufficient evidence with which to proceed perhaps he’d like to run the basis upon which he relied to drop the charges passed us again. Both Cosatu and the SACP have called for swift action against those involved in the conspiracy and unless someone can give me a basis why they are wrong McCarthy and Ngcuka should be listening to the sounds of sirens growing ever closer about now.

Moreover it is not only them who should be concerned with facing the full wrath of our law for putting this country to the sword in pursuit of their own personal agendas. All of those cited or implicated should be taken in for questioning in order to explain to this country the nature of the conspiracy, their part in it and their response to the allegations arising out of those tapes which have been verified as authentic.

A failure to confront these issues head on will only confirm the suspicion that this was a case of two groups of blackmailers who faced off with the winners walking off with the spoils. Alternatively there was only one conspiracy with Zuma as the victim which is now being dealt with. In order to confirm that the latter is the reality the conspirators need to be confronted and made to explain their conduct.

In addition the subject of the tapes has now taken on new meaning. To put it mildly I do not take kindly to my president or anyone else’s calls being tapped without a seriously valid underlying cause therefore. Accordingly a full disclosure is awaited including who carried it out, in terms of what authority and when did those tapes arrive at the Zuma legal team. Before anyone answers I would confirm that protecting the integrity of our leaders’ communication is a matter for national security. Covering it up demands that the party/s be suspended immediately and we forego a commission and simply arrest the offenders who won’t provide a full disclosure.

Either there was a conspiracy based upon which Mpshe dropped the charges, in which case there is no reason to withhold charges or there wasn’t and somebody better get around to the NPA and start arresting people.

If it’s the latter don’t fret there are men and women who feel very strongly about upholding the laws of our country and will be more than happy to carry out the arrests. I’ll just check with the taxi drivers association whether they’re still marching.

Cartoon: NPA next steps on Zuma