POLITRICKING | 'There is a fight to finish': Bulelani Ngcuka talks Zuma, ANC, GNU and NPA

The corruption trial brought against Former President Jacob Zuma by the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) must reach finality, no matter what.

These are the sentiments of the country’s first head of public prosecutions Bulelani Ngcuka.

He says too much has happened in the nearly two-decade-long bid to bring the former president to book over corruption, money laundering and racketeering for it to be abandoned.

Zuma has often made public declarations demanding his day in court, while simultaneously applying “Stalingrad tactics,” to ensure that this eventuality of the matter stemming from 2005, will never materialise.

“I don’t think the NPA is in a position where they can pull out of it now, I think this is a fight to the finish. Of course, I expect Zuma is exactly the same; he is going to do everything possible not to get his day in court - but at the end of the day, he has to face the music, and he will,” says Ngcuka.

As things stand, the matter is set to finally be ventilated on the 14 April next year.

“If I was still there, I would withdraw the charges against Zuma and charge him with the new things. There’s sufficient evidence, we’ve seen it at the Zondo commission, you can charge him with those things,” he said, whilst insisting the arms deal be put to bed.

Much of Ngcuka’s life has run parallel with the intersection between the law and politics in the country, following his decision whilst still in office to charge the former president.

All of this is documented in his 2022 book Sting in the Tale, co-written with journalist Marion Sprag, which remains relevant today.

Ngcuka is the latest guest on Politricking with Tshidi Madia, a politics podcast by EWN.

During the sit-down, he reflected on the African National Congress (ANC) after its 2024 electoral decline, the Government of National Unity (GNU), watching the evolution of the NPA and Zuma, who he once held in high regard, but had launched numerous political attacks against the former National Director of Public Prosecutions when he decided to forge ahead with charges against him.

“I’ve dealt with him many times over a long period, and I came to the conclusion at a particular point that here we are dealing with somebody who is really struggling to find the difference between what is right and what is wrong,” said Ngcuka.

“He would continue to insist when you know that something is wrong that he is doing the right thing. So, that’s the man you are dealing with,” he said of the former president.

He tied this into the 2021 July unrest, saying Zuma playing victim during that period came as no surprise.

GNU MUST WORK

Ngcuka, who still firmly believes the ANC is the only party that could truly transform the lives of South Africans, says the Government of National Unity is good for the country, arguing that the first iteration of the GNU, during former President Nelson Mandela’s era, ended too soon.

“You must accept that the whites are part and parcel of South Africa, and so how do you bring them in? And they need to find expression in the government themselves,” he said.

“There has been in this country an investment strike, they sit on piles and piles of money, they are not investing in South Africa, and we need that investment, so it is important that we have a government that is seen to be representing all,” he added.

Ngcuka says the reality is that white people must be accommodated, while the country vigorously pursues its transformation agenda.

On the NPA, which he describes as a baby, he’s continued to watch, even from the sidelines, he believes the right team is in place.

“What I can say with confidence [is] I am impressed with the work they have put in in rebuilding the NPA at this point in time. I think they’re doing a lot of good work under very difficult circumstances. I am very proud of what they are doing. It’s not easy, and it’s going to take a bit of time, because building an institution now that has been damaged is more difficult than building an institution from scratch,” he said.