DA says Business must reject a political deal for Zuma

BY Mishkah Anthony
11 September 2008

The democratic alliance has made a call to Business South Africa not to interfere in the case of ANC president Jacob Zuma and that the law should take its course.

This comes after Business Unity South Africa chief executive, Jerry Vilakazi, said a special “political solution” to ANC President Jacob Zuma’s legal problems is needed

DA spokesperson Frits de Klerk says, “Business must repudiate the call made by Business Unity South Africa, for a special deal for ANC President Jacob Zuma.”

“Any ‘political solution’ or special deal would prevent the law from taking its course and would violate a sacred constitutional principle, namely that all citizens are equal before the law.”

De Klerk says Business needs to take a long view in this matter because what seems to be a convenient solution now would in time prove disastrous. For this reason business should actively reject a political settle for Zuma rather than enthusiastically endorse it, as in some quarters it’s currently doing.

Cape Town, Mayor and DA leader was reported as saying that, Zuma’s legal team meeting with the National Prosecuting Authority in an attempt to have charges against him dropped are ”profoundly disturbing”.
Speaking at a business breakfast in, Zille said dropping the charges would create the perception that the NPA had capitulated to political pressure. She also says it would set a precedent that powerful politicians deserved special treatment.