The South African government should be dissolved immediately and replaced by a caretaker administration until 2024, an opposition leader said on Thursday.
According to United Democratic Movement (UDM) leader Bantu Holomisa, dissolving the current government was key to ending the current corruption and looting allegations surrounding President Cyril Ramaphosa’s administration.
Once dissolved, the government should be replaced by a caretaker administration until a new one is elected in the 2024 national and provincial elections, Holomisa said.
In his proposal, the vocal opposition leader said his envisaged caretaker administration would be composed of civil society activists and members of the judiciary – leaving out political party representatives.
“We would be fooling ourselves if we expect the ANC (African National Congress) party to cleanse itself from corruption,” Holomisa said.
He added: “Ramaphosa might be serious to say he wants to end corruption but, so far, indications on the ground are that his own people are not listening to him. They continue to loot.”
The UDM leader cited the examples of placing caretaker administrations at the local government levels, where he said the process had worked until new polls were held to replace the former players.
“It is going to be the same arrangement at national level, where the members of parliament would continue to approve legislation and at the same time doing their oversight work over institutions,” he said.
Holomisa’s comments come amid a public outcry of rampant corruption and looting allegations of state resources by state officials amid the coronavirus pandemic.
Ramaphosa’s government has in fact publicly acknowledged this problem, ordering his law enforcement agents to probe the malpractice before taking the culprits to court to answer charges.
NM/jn/APA