South African President Cyril Ramaphosa has said he would “not run away from the choices and actions” he made under former president Jacob Zuma before he succeeded him to the highest office in the country.
Ramaphosa was speaking when he took a stand on Thursday on his final day at the Commission of Inquiry into State Capture, which is holding hearings on corruption in the Zuma regime which ended in February 2018.
Ramaphosa said he would also take “full responsibility” for the decisions he made while he was Zuma’s deputy in both the African National Congress (ANC) and the government.
He said his decision to remain the deputy president under Zuma in the ANC and the government was intended to change the balance of forces in the party “from corruption to renewal.”
On the question of evidence related to the State Security Agency, he defended his decision to take charge of the Ministry of State Security and rejected the notion that he was amassing power in order to deal with his enemies.
During a recent reshuffle, Ramaphosa placed the agency to be under his office and appointed an advisor to lead it.
He said the idea that he was creating a “super-presidency” or instituting a move towards dictatorship by taking state security into his office was far from the truth.
In fact, he was placing the State Security Agency to assist him to realign it to the needs of South Africans.
“Others may suggest that the president is amassing all power in his hands and he is going to use state security against his enemies,” he said.
“I am not wired or geared in that way. As we professionalise the State Security Agency, we will want officers who will swear allegiance to the constitution — and not the president,” he added.
NM/jn/APA