Scorpions 'out to destroy Zuma'

2008-05-10 14:28

Johannesburg - The Scorpions must be disbanded because they are a counter revolutionary force out to destroy ANC president Jacob Zuma and destabilise the party, the MK Military Veteran's Association (MKMVA) said on Saturday.

MKMVA national chairperson, Kebby Maphotsoe said at the associations Gauteng conference that the Scorpions were the "teeth of contemporary counter revolutionary forces in our country".

He said the elite investigating unit were full of "anti-revolutionary venom".

He said while criminals like Mark Thatcher and Adriaan Vlok were exonerated, when it came to ANC leaders, "what we get is the full hateful sting of the Scorpions".

He said party president Jacob Zuma's investigation was being led by the Scorpions but jointly driven by the media and opposition parties particularly the Democratic Alliance.

He said the investigation had gone on too long.

"You can't investigate a person for more than nine years.

"(First it's) an arms deal and R500 000 then it's a R10 car wash," he said.

"Justice delayed is justice denied," he said.

Maphotsoe said political intervention was needed in Zuma's case because the investigation against him was a "politically motivated persecution".

Jumping on Zuma bandwagon

He said South Africa needed to follow established international precedents in law where political intervention prevailed over criminal investigations and possible criminal trials.

"In the established democracies for example the UK, Tony Blair was able to cancel the arms deal involving the British government from being investigated in the UK citing the national interest and security concerns.

"We are therefore saying similarly in SA is the same thing".

He said opposition parties benefited from information being given to them by the Scorpions.

"What is the motivation behind this, to destroy the ANC," he said.

"Counter revolutionaries are using our own institutions to destabilise our party."

Maphotsoe also criticised what he said were false "king makers" in the party.

He said some people had been afraid to identify with Zuma before the Polokwane conference, but now laid claim as his supporters.

"The majority of those who did not come out are now the ones who are jumping to the bandwagon of the name of...Zuma.

'These people must be exposed...'

"They are simply claiming Zuma now in order to further their own reactionary interests, enjoying to be falsely identified as king makers," he said.

He said these people were using his name to create opportunities for themselves such as in election nominations.

These people must be exposed because they could cause a situation "capable of derailing the gains of the revolution."

"If you are working for another enemy we will expel you from the ANC.

"Those who undermine the majority, we will expose them in the ANC," he said.

Maphotsoe also called for the disbanding of the SABC board.

However, he said the suspension of the head of news and current affairs Snuki Zikalala was "correct" because he had insulted Zuma in the past.

Also speaking at the conference, ANC Gauteng chairman and provincial finance MEC, Paul Mashatile said no party members should single themselves out as the custodians of decisions taken at Polokwane.

"The ANC is not any other organisation, so we must not have members who act in ways that are foreign."

"People say they are the custodians of Polokwane decisions.

"We went to a conference of the ANC and have taken decisions that are binding on all its members.

"All of us are defenders of the decisions of the conference," he said.

- SAPA