Zuma backers promise war

PRESIDENT Jacob Zuma’s backers have promised war against ANC leaders who will today push for his removal as state president, saying they are prepared to go down with him if needs be.

The much anticipated special meeting of the ANC national executive committee is taking place today at the ICC Hotel in East London, where the party his holding its 106th birthday celebrations.

Zuma’s fate is set to feature prominently at the meeting under the topic of two centres of power.

At least six ANC NEC members yesterday told Independent Media that the party’s top brass could not avoid discussing Zuma’s future.

An NEC member close to Zuma said they would put up a big fight to defend the president.

Speaking in IsiZulu, the leader gave an example of how those around a king had to lay their lives down in his defence.

“Inkosi (Jacob Zuma) ayilali phansi ingandlalelwe. Uma inkosi ifa ngaphambi kokuba ingcwatshwe kumele bube khona isinsizwa ekufanele zilale. Uma kungakabi khona izinsizwa ezilele angeke ingcwatshwe inkosi ngoba alali enhlabathini. (A king does not fall alone. There are those in his line of defence who should fall first before the king falls. There are men who should fall before the king fall, and if those men have not fallen the king will never fall).

Calls for Zuma to step down have polarised the party since the election of its new President Cyril Ramaphosa, which created two centres of power – Zuma leading the state while Ramaphosa leads the party.

Another NEC member, who is also a minister, told the Independent Media that it was important that Zuma’s issue be featured prominently on the NEC agenda.

“But I don’t think that be would be relieved of his duties. Why should he not allowed to finish his terms of office,” she asked.

Unity

Yesterday Zuma’s office issued a media alert that the president will tomorrow (Thursday) host his Kenyan counterpart, Uhuru Kenyatta at Dr John Dube residence in Durban. This is where Zuma met with Ramaphosa on Sunday.

An NEC member aligned to Ramaphosa said Zuma and those close to him would use the unity call to help shield him from being removed.

“We are dealing with a beast here and removing him may not be as easy. Some of us mistake the unity call for a ceasefire on dealing corruption and rebuilding the battered image of the ANC.

“Why must the old man (Zuma) be the precondition for our unity?

“But one senses that some among us see his removal as a personal threat to them,” he said.

The NEC member said Zuma would not easily leave as this would weaken him given numerous allegations of wrongdoing and court cases against him.

“We must afford the new leadership to discuss this at length, but there is little doubt that the president may refuse to leave and choose to stay until next year instead,” he said.

Speaking on the sidelines of the blitz aimed at drumming up support for the ANC’s 106th anniversary celebrations at the weekend, NEC member and finance minister Malusi Gigaba said the issue of Zuma’s removal was too sensitive for individual members to air their personal views.

“No single leader of the ANC must express an individual opinion on such matters. We need to take a collective view as the ANC because if we continue to speak in different voices, we are not only dividing the ANC, we divide our society and make it difficult for government to focus on the task of social change.

“When we took this decision around (former president Thabo) Mbeki, we were aware of the challenges that this was going to bring up and the possibility that it would divide the ANC and cause a splinter organisation,” Gigaba said.