Jacob Zuma. File photo: Mlungisi Louw/Getty Images
ANC secretary-general Fikile Mbalula announced on Monday night that the National Executive Committee (NEC) had suspended Jacob Zuma's membership after he formed the breakaway party Umkhonto Wisizwe (MK). Nevertheless, the new movement maintained that he remained a loyal member of the ruling party.
Mbalula told a press conference at the ANC's Lekgotla that the NEC had unanimously voted to suspend Zuma after attempts at reconciliation with the former president failed.
“The NEC has concluded that exceptional circumstances exist which warrant and justify the decision to suspend former ANC President J.G. Zuma with immediate effect in accordance with Party Regulation 25.60,” Mbalula said. .
But MK party spokesperson Nhlamulo Nderela said: email and guardian As far as he knew, Zuma was still a member of the ANC.
“We have seen reports on social media that he has been suspended, but as we have said previously, at this stage he remains a member of the ANC,” Ndlera said, adding that Zuma added that he had not been contacted by the ANC regarding this matter.
Ndlela said he could not comment on whether Zuma would object to the move.
Mr Mbalula said that ANC Regulation 25.60 provides that the party may suspend a member if there are justified exceptional circumstances that require an immediate decision to temporarily suspend the member without eliciting comment or reaction from the member in question. said that it can be done.
He said the ANC would inform Mr Zuma of the decision. “We started doing that from the Office of the Secretary General.”
Mr Zuma's suspension came after he announced he would vote with the MK party, which made its public debut in Soweto on December 16 last year, but would remain a member of the ANC. This day has been known as Reconciliation Day to bring healing to the country since 1995, marking the anniversary of the establishment of the ANC's Umkhonto Wesizwe Armed Forces in 1961 and the Battle of Blood River in 1838. Commemorate.
At the launch, Mr Zuma declared that he would not support the ANC as it had failed South Africans. However, he reiterated that Mr Zuma remains a member of the ANC.
Mbalula said despite calls for the party to expel Zuma, the party would release him through the correct process. “Expulsion is a last resort. If expulsion is necessary, it will be done as a result of that process. When you deal with an unstable member, you can't think about that person's satisfaction. It's no longer about Zuma. , it's an ANC problem.
of M&G It is understood that the ANC's KwaZulu-Natal leadership has called for Mr Zuma to be expelled rather than suspended. State leaders have long been strong supporters of the former president, often visiting Nkandla's home to seek “wisdom.”
Provincial secretary Bheki Mtolo is said to be leading the charge against Zuma, who recently said his presidency had damaged the ANC.
Mr Mbalula downplayed KwaZulu-Natal's demands for Mr Zuma's ouster.
“They contributed to this discussion and it was a unanimous decision that we had to make this decision, and it took us all day and night to come to this conclusion,” he said.