Former South African President Jacob Zuma, however implicated in numerous scandals, accused his successor Cyril Ramaphosa of having deplored that their party is at the heart of the corruption that plagues the country. In an open letter last week, Ramaphosa urged members of the African National Congress (ANC), in power since the fall of apartheid in 1994, to acknowledge that their party had become " the number 1 accused " in corruption.
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In recent years, many leaders of the historic party of the late Nelson Mandela have been blamed for embezzlement of public funds, especially since the reign of Mr. Zuma (2009-2018).
The latter took umbrage at Mr. Ramaphosa's remarks, calling them " fundamentally wrong ". " It is totally unjustified to blame the entire ANC for the bad behavior of a few ", moved the former head of state in a letter that leaked to the press. “ These are the individuals of the ANC who must hide their heads in the sand, not the ANC, our glorious movement ”, he added, “ I implore you to take your responsibilities without insulting the movement ”. " I consider your letter as a diversion, a public relations exercise in which you accuse the entire ANC to save your skin ", also counterattacked Jacob Zuma.
Several relatives of the president have recently been implicated in cases of embezzlement of funds intended for the fight against the coronavirus pandemic. Cyril Ramaphosa took the head of the ANC then of South Africa in 2018 by pushing to the retirement Jacob Zuma, implicated in a litany of scandals. He has struggled since to keep his promise to rid the country of corruption.