Investigative journalist and author Jacques Pauw. (Photo: Jaco Marais/Gallo Images/Netwerk24)
- Jacques Pauw warned that SA could become a “criminal or mafia state” under ANC rule.
- He spoke at length about the ANC after its recent conference, at which Cyril Ramaphosa was re-elected as president.
- Since the release of Pauw’s book, he has faced backlash from the EFF.
Author Jacques Pauw has warned that the country could become a “criminal state” if the current government is not ousted in the 2024 general election.
Pauw spoke with News24 assistant investigative editor Pieter du Toit at the Cape Town Press Club on Wednesday.
He recently released his new book, Our poisoned land: living in the shadow of Zuma’s guardians.
On Wednesday, he spoke at length about the ANC after its 55th elective conference, in which Cyril Ramaphosa was re-elected as party chairman.
“In 2017, when I wrote the President’s GuardiansI said that we are on the brink of the abyss. We can very easily become a mafia state if something doesn’t happen. And then Ramaphosa came along and he did very well in the first year, or the first 18 months of his presidency, [with] a new boss [SA Revenue Service]a new boss [National Prosecuting Authority]many things happened.
READ | Jacques Pauw: The ANC apple is rotten to the core and Ramaphosa is at the center
“Unfortunately, we are again on the brink. And I’m not saying that. Look at what the Treasury Department says about South Africa turning into a criminal or mafia state. We are on the brink,” he said.
Pauw said that if the ANC were to rule the country for another four years, “we are going to be a criminal state.”
He said:
We have to get rid of the current government. And I’m not going to tell people, ‘Go vote DA or EFF or Freedom Front.’ But we have to get rid of what we have right now because they have simply failed the citizens at every level of this country. Nothing seems to be better.
Pauw believes that the country’s hope lies in the 2024 elections.
Since the release of his book, Pauw has faced backlash from the EFF, which wanted the book pulled from shelves after it exposed Julius Malema’s relationship with confessed tobacco smuggler Adriano Mazzotti.
The book contained damning allegations that Mazzotti abused Malema with cash and rent money.
In the book, Pauw reveals the wiles of the Hawks, the mafia networks in the South African Passenger Railway Agency, and the depths of Malema’s relationship with Mazzotti.
READ | Pieter du Toit: Enemy of the people: Ramaphosa’s unraveling shows just how toxic and criminal the ANC is
Some of the claims include that Malema allegedly held secret meetings with Mazzotti, one of which was also attended by EFF Vice President Floyd Shivambu, and that traces of white powder, condoms and women’s underwear were allegedly detected after lavish parties in the luxurious Raphael Penthouse. Suites in Sandton, Johannesburg.
Malema denied the allegations in the book, which was published by NB Publishers, a division of Media24 Boeke.
In his talk, Pauw said that Malema played an important role as a politician in the country, but added: “I don’t want to get personal, but he has also poisoned my land.
“With racism and its devilish pursuit of power. She seems untouchable. His followers are not too concerned about the accusations surrounding Malema.
“Malema lives on the handouts of others and is an important player,” he said.
