PRESIDENT Cyril Ramaphosa didn’t bury former president Jacob Zuma in his State Capture Commission of Inquiry, but he dug himself a big hole in the ground by failing to take full responsibility for some of government’s failures in dealing with corruption.
Ramaphosa acknowledged that there was rampant state corruption while he was deputy to former president Zuma, but said he did not resign as that would have hampered his efforts to resist the rot.
Ramaphosa served as Zuma’s deputy for four years from May 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 corruption.
Ramaphosa said he decided to stay in order to “resist some of the more egregious
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