Johannesburg - Cope wants President Cyril Ramaphosa and his government to do what it called the “honourable” thing and resign for failing the country.
The party is blaming Ramaphosa and his Cabinet for the mess the country is in, especially when it comes to issues of national security and the destruction of infrastructure by zama zamas (illegal miners).
On Wednesday, Gauteng police discovered 19 bodies believed to be those of zama zamas at a mine in the west of Johannesburg. On Thursday morning, two more bodies were discovered at the same mine, bringing the total to 21.
Gauteng provincial SAPS spokesperson Brigadier Brenda Muridili confirmed that 21 bodies had been recovered at an active mine and an inquest docket had been opened.
Cope said it could not understand why it is so difficult for the government to flush out all illegal mining activities.
Cope spokesperson Dennis Bloem said it had become normal to find 21 bodies, and for the police to say that they didn’t suspect any foul play.
He said it was clear that Illegal mining had become acceptable to the government.
“President Ramaphosa and his government have failed this country and must do the honourable thing to resign. The country is in a mess. Clearly, there is no political will to close all unused mine dumps. Why are the police and soldiers not deployed to flush out all these criminals in mine dumps?” asked Bloem.
He said Cope suspected some powerful politicians were involved and had shares in the illegal mining business.
“What we see happening in our country is a ticking time bomb that will explode sooner (rather) than later,” Bloem said.
African Transformation Movement (ATM) president Vuyolwethu Zungula concurred with Cope and called for Ramaphosa to go, as he also accused him of failing the country.
“We agree that the state president has failed the country because the buck stops with him as the number one citizen who was entrusted to appoint ministers, for example, of intelligence, to make sure that when it comes to the issues of national security, we are always a step ahead of any criminals who would want to cause harm to the state,” said Zungula.
“Now if you check the destruction that has been there on the infrastructure by the zama zamas and if you check the lack of action and appetite from the side of government, the police, the intelligence community, defence in dealing with zama zamas, one can see that we are fighting a losing battle and that is precisely because the number one citizen is not taking any decisive action to make sure that we actually deal with his criminal element.”
Zungula said the zama zamas had caused a lot of damage but there was no tangible action by the government to show that they were serious about dealing with the issue of illegal mining.
“So it can’t be that we are just going to hear about people who have died, and then we are going to have a government that will issue a press statement and it ends there. You will recall what happened to Soweto in that tavern, whereby people died and when those people died, there was basically outrage for a few days and then that’s it. So we need a president that will be extremely decisive, show leadership and actually committed to resolving the problems that are facing the country,” he said.
Ramaphosa has been urged by a number of political parties and some ANC members like Umkhonto we Sizwe Military Veterans Association (MKMVA) spokesperson Carl Niehaus to resign, but he has not. Instead, he has set his sights on the ANC’s coming 55th national conference, where he is hoping to be elected party president for a second term.
Ramaphosa’s spokesperson, Vincent Magwenya, was contacted for comment but he did not respond.
The Star