Gauteng ANC calls for Zuma’s head: report
The ANC in Gauteng has reportedly decided to call for president Jacob Zuma to step down following a meeting by its Provincial Executive Committee (PEC) on Monday.
It follows a ruling by the Constitutional Court that the president should adhere to the remedial actions of the public protector and pay back tax payers funds which were used for non-security upgrades worth millions at his Nkandla home.
The court also ruled that Zuma and the National Assembly had violated the Constitution by ignoring the public protector’s report.
TMG Digital reported on Tuesday that senior Gauteng ANC executives declared Zuma no longer fit to lead the party.
ANC Gauteng is led by chairperson Paul Mashatile, with Gauteng premier, David Makhura, serving as his deputy.
“ANC Gauteng‚ through its extended PEC meeting‚ resolved that the ANC and state president must resign‚” a source close to the meeting told TMG Digital.
The insider said the resolution was reached through consensus in the early hours of Tuesday.
Last week the ANC’s Sefako Makgatho branch in the Greater Johannesburg region called for Zum to be removed from office or face the ANC’s integrity and disciplinary committees.
ANC secretary-general Gwede Mantashe again defended president Zuma on Sunday, despite voicing concerns that the ruling party is losing supporters’ confidence.
Opposition parties failed to have Zuma impeached last Tuesday, following a Constitutional Court ruling that he had failed to uphold his constitutional obligations as president.
143 MPs voted in favour of impeachment, while 233 voted against impeachment with no members abstaining.
The motion needed 66% of the vote, and only managed to capture 38%.
“It is not the Constitutional Court judgement that is the issue. The issue is the trust deficit that has developed, with people beginning to trust us less and less and less and less,” Mantashe said on Sunday.
Mantashe defended the ANC’s rejection of the impeachment drive against Zuma, saying to do otherwise would have served the opposition’s agenda.
“We can’t follow the programme of the opposition forces. It’s unheard of that ANC MPs would vote for that impeachment, it will not happen. The ANC must process these things and take its own decisions,” Mantashe said.
“But it doesn’t absolve us from looking into our own behaviour. There must be change in our behaviour as a movement,” he added. “If we don’t change our behaviour, we become arrogant in dealing with our problems. We are going to pay the price.”
Last week, Mantashe warned that ANC members who speak out against president Jacob Zuma will ‘pay the price’.
President Zuma has announced that the next Local Government Elections will take place on 3 August 2016.
More on the ANC
ANC Gauteng premier plotting to get Zuma out: DA
Zuma still standing after heated impeachment debate
Zuma’s approval rating among black South Africans at its lowest point ever: report
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