Please find attached soundbite by Ryan Smith MP.
The Democratic Alliance (DA) has submitted parliamentary questions to the Minister of International Relations and Cooperation (DIRCO), Ronald Lamola, to determine why the South African High Commissioner to India, Anil Sooklal, rolled out the red carpet for former president, Jacob Zuma, and State Capture-accused, Ajay Gupta, upon a visit to India this week.
The DA also calls on Minister Lamola to inform the Republic as to the consequences High Commissioner Sooklal will face for this act which undermines the government of South Africa.
As South Africa continues to grapple with the full extent of Jacob Zuma’s 9-year assault on the state during his disastrous presidency, which saw rampant corruption, the unchecked capture of state departments, and the wanton desecration of oversight institutions, DIRCO continues to entertain Zuma and his allies outside of our borders where they remain out of reach of justice.
Minister Lamola must explain to the Republic why South African ambassadors are facilitating foreign meetings with Zuma and the Guptas who are responsible for the demise of our country and the theft of an entire generation’s future at the altar of greed and unbridled thievery.
While South Africans yearn for opportunity stolen from them by Zuma and the Guptas, Minister Lamola oversees a foreign service which continues to not only reward them, but publicly parade their freedom and evasion of consequence.
Formerly serving as Minister of Justice and Constitutional Development, Minister Lamola should know all too well the extent of Jacob Zuma’s assault on our country and its people aided and abetted by the Guptas.
He cannot turn a blind eye to DIRCO’s flagrant abuse of the foreign service and state resources to parade Jacob Zuma and Ajay Gupta around Indian temples in a taunting display of impunity.
As a member of the Government of National Unity (GNU), the DA expects those responsible for State Capture to meet the full might of the law and be punished accordingly.
The DA will not tolerate DIRCO’s abuse of state resources to prop up Zuma-era corruption and insult the people of South Africa from whom Jacob Zuma and Ajay Gupta have stolen livelihoods and prosperity.
The GNU is not the Zuma-era status quo, and Minister Lamola cannot oversee a department which seeks to perpetuate it.