South Africa’s Democratic Alliance leader Mmusi Maimane yesterday told that country’s Parliament that Zambia’s UPND president Hakainde Hichilema was thrown in prison by a corrupt government.

Addressing the House, Maimane said South Africa under his government would choose its global allies carefully and embrace allies like Hichilema.

He accused President Jacob Zuma of destroying the Africa National Congress (ANC) adding that the DA would not allow him to destroy South Africa.

Like many South Africans I grew up believing in the ANC as the party of liberation. A party that turned this country around and set our course for a future that was infinitely better than our painful past. Back then, the ANC made life better for millions of South Africans. It brought clean water, electricity, street lights and waste collection to places that had none,” Maimane said.

I could not have imagined that the party that liberated us would end up captured and corrupted. Honourable Members, it pains me to say that the ANC of Oliver Tambo doesn’t exist anymore, and hasn’t for many years. This man [Zuma] killed the ANC. Make no mistake, it was already wounded before he plunged the knife in – weakened by a culture of patronage and corruption and crippled by cadre deployment. But he struck the final blow. He wiped out Oliver Tambo’s legacy to make himself rich. First he killed the ANC and now he is killing our country.”

He said President Zuma had struck deals with crooked families which were holding him to ransom.

“We cannot ignore the fact that the President of the Republic has made a crooked deal with a crooked family, and now they own him. We cannot ignore the fact that the President appoints cabinet ministers and board members of State-Owned Companies according to this family’s instructions, because that’s part of their deal. We cannot ignore the fact that our President has opened the doors of our Treasury to this family – to give them mines, contracts, advertising revenue – because that is the crux of their deal,” Maimane said.

The budget we’re voting on today is nothing more than a sponsorship deal for a corrupt syndicate. If we vote for it, we support a budget for a Mafia shadow state. Section 85 of the Constitution says that the executive authority of the Republic is vested in the President. So why is ours vested in Dubai? This is a budget for President Gupta. Keep that in mind when you cast your vote.”

He urged South Africans to focus on building a post ANC-South Africa.

“Honourable Speaker, I know we have allies in the opposition benches. I also know we have allies out there in business, in labour, in civil society and in churches. But I’m counting on our allies here in these ANC benches too. Because if you want the same things for our country – and if you cannot stand what has been allowed to happen under President Zuma and the Guptas – then we should be on the same side,” he said.

“We should be building a post-ANC South Africa together. In this post-ANC South Africa we will recognise the important role investors and entrepreneurs play in creating jobs and fighting poverty. In this post-ANC South Africa we will double the Police Force and we will secure our borders, but we will also look at ways to attract skills and talent from across the continent.”

He then told the House that Zambia’s Hichilema was thrown in prison by a corrupt government.

“We will choose our global friends well, and then stand by them in their time of need. Friends such as my Zambian counterpart, Hakainde Hichilema, who was thrown in jail by a corrupt government. He will know he can count on the support of the South African government,” said Maimane.

“In this post-ANC South Africa we will do all we can to create opportunities for people to stand on their own two feet and escape the dependency on social grants. But, for those who need them, we will double the grant income. In this post-ANC South Africa we will elect a president who will use the Presidency budget to serve the people, and not to stay out of jail.”