Former President Kgalema Motlanthe says he tried reasoning with President Jacob Zuma during his term in office on how to conduct himself, but he would not listen.

Motlanthe, on Wednesday, reflected on his previous term in office as Zuma’s deputy. He was speaking at a webinar hosted by the Centre for Development and Enterprise.

“I became President ahead of President Zuma. So, he is my successor. So when I served as his deputy, I could always say to him, look, Mr President, you know, as a president, no president does things the way you do them. So I could talk to him in those terms.”

According to Motlanthe, he chaired most of the Cabinet committee meetings, and he (Zuma) would often be in and out of those meetings.

So I could actually talk to him properly about these things and say to him, this is not how we do it. But you know he wouldn’t listen. Part of his skill is that he would never argue with you about what you were saying, but he would (later) go and act the way he wanted to act.”

He added: “Short of removing President Zuma (from office) and electing a different leader, there is very little that could have been done because he had the authority as the head of state to appoint and remove ministers. So you could say whatever you wanted to say, it would not cut it as long as he was President.“

“I mean, the discussions were always candid and based on trying to do right, but of course, with his authority, he would still go and do what his benefactors wanted him to do.”
Motlanthe also detailed how he believed the State Capture infiltrated state-owned institutions.

He recalled a formal discussion in which he explained that in one of the NEC meetings, Fikile Mbalula spoke about how he was aware of the capture because he allegedly received a congratulatory message from one of the Gupta brothers on his new appointment as a minister before he could be formally appointed.

“So, it was during the NEC discussion that every issue that these people have undue influence on the workings of government was discussed,” said Motlanthe.