Pressure piles on Zuma ahead of date with parliament

South Africa President Jacob Zuma. PHOTO | FILE 

By PETER DUBE

In Summary

• The Opposition parties ramped up their efforts to remove the president from office, especially following allegations that he was acting on instructions from the influential family, the Guptas.

The future of President Jacob Zuma's leadership of South Africa appeared even more ...
shaky as he prepared to answer questions in parliament later Thursday.

The Opposition parties ramped up their efforts to remove the president from office, especially following allegations that he was acting on instructions from the influential family, the Guptas.

Recent reports claimed the Guptas were going around offering members of the ruling ANC party positions.

The allegations looked set to be high on the agenda of President Zuma's session in Parliament.

Of particular interest would once again be the issue of why the South Africa leader sacked Mr Nhlanhla Nene as Finance Minister, appointed Mr Des van Rooyen for a few days then recalled Mr Pravin Gordhan to the post.

The Democratic Alliance leader, Mr Mmusi Maimane, already set the tone with questions sent to President Zuma for his oral reply, demanding an elaborate statement on the infamous December decision that sent the Rand tumbling.

The Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) leader, Mr Julius Malema, was demanding to know who was behind that particular decision after allegations that Mr Nene's deputy, Mr Mcebisi Jonas, was offered that job by the Guptas.

Mr Jonas on Wednesday confirmed that the Gupta family had offered him the position of Finance Minister to replace Mr Nene.

“Let me state the facts on the matter of whether I was approached by nongovernmental individuals in respect of the position of Minister of Finance. Members of the Gupta family offered me the position of Minister of Finance to replace then Minister Nene," said Mr Jonas.

He said he rejected the offer because it was "a mockery of our hard-earned democracy".

EFF spokesperson Mbuyiseni Ndlozi said they were not going to participate in “an empty speech with a stooge”.

“President Jacob Zuma is a stooge. You may as well call the Guptas to Parliament to hold them accountable. We are not going to play an empty game in front of South Africans saying we are holding a stooge accountable," Mr Ndlozi added.

Prior to Mr Jonas' claims, another former ANC MP, Ms Vytie Mentor, came out to allege she had been offered a position by the Guptas, while President Zuma was in the next room.

Gupta family

A Gupta family spokesperson said in a statement: “These latest allegations are just more political point scoring between rival factions within the ANC. To be clear: any suggestion that the Gupta family or any of our representatives or associates have offered anyone a job in government is totally false.

The family challenged Mr Jonas to provide a full account of the supposed meeting that took place, under oath, in a court of law.

The Guptas are Indian-born family who arrived in South Africa in 1993.

They have for long been accused by the Zuma critics of wielding excessive influence on the president.

The family boasts of substantial investments in mining, travel and media.

In 2013, there was an outcry after a private jet carrying guests to the wedding of a Gupta family member was allowed to land at a South African military air force base in Pretoria.

The opposition reckons that links between President Zuma and the Guptas were so close that they have been nicknamed the "Zuptas