JOHANNESBURG: A memorial service conducted for anti-apartheid icon Ahmed Kathrada soon turned into a vicious attack on South African President Jacob Zuma who has come under fire recently for his controversial cabinet reshuffle. Party veterans of the ruling African National Congress took the opportunity to vehemently criticise the state of the country amidst chants of "Zuma must go".
The reactions came after Zuma sacked Indian-origin Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan and several other ministers in a move that sent the rand currency plummeting. Gordhan, in a rousing speech, addressed the crowds saying the country was in a "mini crisis". "Comrade Kathy leaves us at a time when the ANC or the democratic government and indeed our society finds itself in a mini crisis. The problems are very clear and who is the problem is very clear as well," he said.
Kathrada, known to be a close aide to Nelson Mandela, died last week in a Johannesberg hospital following brain surgery. He was vocal about his disagreement with the current president and had once even called on Zuma to resign in 2016. His widow Barbara Hogan too, lashed out at the controversial leader. "If you had ears to hear and eyes to see, you would have not appointed four finance ministers in less than three years," she said. Hogan even urged Zuma to "step down" as her husband had demanded.
The SA President's overnight Cabinet shuffle saw 10 of the country's 35 ministers changed, even though Opposition Democratic Alliance said it would file an urgent request in the Western Cape to halt it. Dismissing an intelligence report used by Zuma to sack him, Gordhan waived the report in the air outside the treasury offices in Pretoria. "This is the so-called intelligence report which said that among others, the two of us and the Director-General are involved in this massive conspiracy to undermine the economy of this country, and if you read this you will know it is absolute nonsense."
Gordhan and deputy finance minister Mcibisi Jonas, who was also fired, handed over charge to Malusi Gigaba, a Zuma appointee. Many South Africans see Gordhan as a responsible steward of an economy that now could be downgraded to junk status by credit ratings agencies within days. Pressure is mounting on Zuma after he dismissed five ministers and made 10 changes to his cabinet to surround himself with what analysts say “non-dissenting people.”
