DA scores Zuma F minus on report card

Cape Town – Should Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan lose his job, the “floodgates would open and the tsotsis in the ANC” will run the country, Democratic Alliance leader Mmusi Maimane said on Thursday. 

Maimane, with DA chief whip John Steenhuisen, presented the DA’s version of a Cabinet report card indicating how members of the executive performed in the past year. 

Speaking at a media conference at Parliament, Maimane said Gordhan and Science and Technology Minister Naledi Pandor were the only members of the executive who both received a “B” in the report card. 

President Jacob Zuma, the DA said, deserved nothing more than an F minus. 

“If there was a lower score we would have given it to him,” Maimane said. 

His ultimate crime against the “people of South Africa”, according to the DA, is his misdirection of the economy. “More than 9 million South Africans go home without work and have to face their families,” Maimaine said.  

“Under a Zuma presidency the potential of a credit ratings downgrade has been exacerbated and we’ve seen heightened levels of corruption.” 

The DA gave Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa a “D”, because of his failure to turn around state-owned enterprises and rein in the executive. 

“He is an accessory to the president’s growing scandals,” Maimane said.

The DA scored rest of Zuma’s 35-member Cabinet as follows: 

A:        0 ministers
B:        2 ministers
C:        4 ministers
D/D-:   8 ministers
E/E-:   10 ministers
F/F-:    13 ministers 

The DA scored Fs to among others David Mahlobo of State Security, Nomvula Mokonyane of Water and Sanitation, Bathabile Dlamini of Social Development, Nathi Nhleko of Police, Mosebenzi Zwane of Mineral Resources, Mildred Oliphant of Labour and Lynne Brown of Public Enterprises. 

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“Lynne Brown has lost all credibility,” Maimane said. “She has been implicated in state capture and is seen as a puppet for the enrichment of the president and the Gupta family. At no stage has she shown leadership in dealing with the crises at the SOEs (state-owned enterprises).” 

As for Zwane, the DA said he has shown himself to be a "captured pawn" of the Gupta family. 

Maimane said the reason for the DA announcing its scorecard of the executive was not about the “personal or politics”, but rather to hold the executive to account. 

“Last year this time we had a new minister of finance, which lasted for a weekend,” Maimane quipped. “But we should never say ‘never’.” 

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It was an incredible year for this country and Jacob Zuma’s Cabinet, Maimane added. “The president was ordered to pay back the Nkandla money by the Constitutional Court and the (former) public protector (Thuli Madonsela) showed with her state capture report just how our executive is committed to the project of patronage.”