A South African official testifies at an inquiry into the activities of Russian mercenary groups in Libya’s civil war.
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa acknowledges there was rampant state corruption while he was deputy to former president Jacob Zuma but says he did not resign as that would have hampered his efforts to resist the rot. Ramaphosa was appearing before a judicial panel on Wednesday probing the alleged mass looting of state coffers during Zuma’s 2009 to 2018 presidency. He served as Zuma’s deputy for four years from May 2014 before succeeding him in February 2018. “I had five options: resign; speak out; acquiesce and abet; remain and keep silent; or remain and resist,” Ramaphosa said. But had he quit his job, “This action would have significantly impaired my ability to contribute to bring about an end” to the corruption, he argued. Ramaphosa said he decided to stay in order to “resist some of the more egregious and obvious abuses of power”.
SOURCE: AL JAZEERA