The ANC’s ‘Nazi tactics’ – tell a lie, and keep repeating it non-stop
South African billionaire businessman Johann Rupert says that its troubling that the ruling party is employing “Nazi techniques” – lying to the nation, and simply adopting it as truth.
He was speaking in an interview with the Sunday Times, after receiving the lifetime achievement award in the paper’s Top 100 companies ranking.
Rupert was specifically referring to accusations from the ANC, that it is he and his businesses – not the Gupta family – that were engaging in so-called ‘state capture’, where “the Ruperts in Stellenbosch” have been accused of exerting undue influence over government to defend “white capital”.
Rupert himself has been accused of being behind the move to have Des van Rooyen removed as finance minister, four days after he replaced former minister Nhlanhla Nene in a shocking Cabinet reshuffle in December 2015.
Some in the ANC said that Rupert had met with deputy president Cyril Ramaphosa to force president Jacob Zuma to make the change. The party has consistently tried to steer ‘the heat’ away from state companies doing business with the Guptas, pointing fingers at ‘white’ businesses, as well as the banks.
According to Rupert, there is no basis, or any evidence at all regarding the allegations, with the businessman pointing out that, unlike the Guptas, his companies do not do business with government.
“It’s a little bit worrisome that they’re trying this Nazi technique of telling a big lie, repeating it often enough, and carrying on with that lie non-stop,” Rupert said.
The billionaire added that he has not seen deputy president Cyril Ramaphosa in five years.
Speaking on state capture, Rupert said that it is untenable, as is the government’s policy of cronyism and cadre deployment. However, he added that the private sector is as much to blame, as it is complicit in collusion and bribery.
He said that the private sector, too, has been too silent on matters and issues that are challenging the country, adding that ‘if you have influence, you should use it’ to speak out.
The full interview can be read in the Sunday Times Top 100 Companies report.
Rupert was named as a lifetime achiever for building his own businesses and running some of the top companies in the country. Rupert is one of only 7 South African dollar billionaires, and was named business leader of the year in 1996 and 2008 by the Sunday Times.
Read: Here’s what Trump’s victory did to South Africa’s richest people
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