The ANC has confirmed that it has finally ousted former president Jacob Zuma. (Oupa Nkosi)
TThe ANC has confirmed that it has finally expelled former president Jacob Zuma for founding and campaigning for the separatist Umkhonto weSizwe (MK) party in breach of the party's constitution.
ANC secretary-general Fikile Mbalula told a news conference at Luthuli House headquarters that the party's national disciplinary committee had found Zuma guilty of two charges and ordered him expelled.
Mbalula said Zuma “actively attacked the integrity of the ANC and campaigned to remove it from power, while claiming that he had not been stripped of his party membership”.
“This action goes against the spirit of organisational discipline and the letter of the ANC constitution,” he added.
The party's national executive committee (NEC) charged Zuma after he launched the MK party on December 16 last year, but disciplinary proceedings were postponed until after the May 29 election.
The hearing was held online, with ANC member Tony Yengeni appearing on behalf of former President Zuma, despite Zuma insisting on an in-person hearing and MK members traveling to the ANC headquarters to stage a protest.
The final decision to oust President Zuma was taken on 28 July and communicated to the ANC leadership and the former president the following day.
Mbalula said President Zuma had 21 days to appeal the decision if he wanted to.
He said Zuma had not only breached the ANC's constitution but was “campaigning on a dangerous platform that calls into question our entire constitutional system”.
Not only did he “utter an anti-revolutionary tirade”, but he also deliberately undermined the credibility of the courts and the judicial system which “had been consciously engineered into the constitutional system by the ANC”.
“His policies are dangerous and appeal to the radical instincts of our political establishment, potentially galvanising the political base and fuelling social unrest,” Mbalula said.
Mbalula said the party “never expected a former president to form a political party and campaign against the ANC”, which he said contributed to the way it responded to his case.
“It was not easy” to deal with the former president, but the party felt it had to do so because Zuma's ANC membership was valid until December.
“The NEC has looked at the matter and taken the decision that Jacob Zuma must be prosecuted, that's what we have done and this is the final stage of it,” he said.
“Jacob Zuma has slammed the ANC. He has reduced our approval rating to below 50 per cent. He has done everything. We are dealing with it now… We are dealing with the consequences of Jacob Zuma's actions against the ANC.”
Mbalula said President Zuma wanted the in-person hearings to disrupt the ANC and raise his profile.
“He wanted to watch a film. He wanted a rally. Even though they heard that the DC disciplinary committee would be held online, they came here. Jacob Zuma wanted a rally. He did not want to come here and defend himself,” Mbalula said.
In a statement, MK party spokesperson Nhlamulo Ndhlela said the organisation was considering taking legal action to challenge the results.
Ndlela described the ANC disciplinary committee as a “camouflage court” and questioned why the decision was leaked before being communicated to the MK party.
Ndhlela said neither Zuma nor his representative Yengeni had received written notice of the decision, which he said was a “blatant breach” of the ANC constitution and the country's constitution.
Ndlela said no one “can be judged in absentia” and described the ANC's actions as an attempt to “undermine” Zuma and a continuation of the persecution of the MK leader with an “apartheid style and tendencies”.
“This leak is not an isolated incident but the culmination of a series of repressive acts that are eerily reminiscent of tactics used during the apartheid era, from which the ANC leadership led by President Ramaphosa and its coalition partner, the DA, appear to be drawing inspiration,” Ndlela said.