In a reply to questions by the official opposition – the Democratic Alliance (DA) Zuma was asked about the cost of his recent trips to Russia but the Zumster simply said: “Costs related to the visits would be included in The Presidency’s budgets for the respective years.”
Now this is utter nonsense and a purposefully deceitful answer.
The DA says that when a member of Parliament asks for information that the Presidency already has at its disposal, it must answer immediately. It cannot wave away the answers to some future report that may or may not include the information.
The answer is also unacceptable given that the Presidency’s budget does not include detailed information as requested in parliamentary questions.
Why is this being held secret? What did the Zumster do in Russia and what did he spend while doing it?
We, like the DA, are appalled that the President of the country – even a fast becoming banana republic like South Africa – who swore an oath to protect the Constitution, is flatly refusing to abide by his Constitutional obligation to answer questions from MPs.
This is another example of ‘President Showerhead’ undermining the rule of law by refusing to be held to account by Parliament. He refuses to answer oral questions, he now refuses to answer written questions, he has deployed his party chairwoman to the Speaker’s chair to protect him and he uses his majority in Parliament to whitewash his actions at every turn.
