Zuma is staying put, says ANC NEC
The NEC has quashed any hopes that Jacob Zuma will step down as ANC leader and state president.
|||Johannesburg - Any hopes that Jacob Zuma will step down as ANC leader and state president in the wake of the party’s dismal performance in the municipal elections have been quashed.
It emerged on Sunday that Zuma had again emerged unscathed from the ANC’s four-day national executive committee meeting at St George’s Hotel in Irene, Tshwane, that was conveyed so the party could take stock of the elections outcomes. Almost predictably, the NEC announced that it resolved that the ANC’s poor showing in the polls was “a collective” matter and that no blame should be apportioned on any individual leader. ANC secretary-general Gwede Mantashe said pointing fingers at Zuma was “a wrong narrative” that was in foreign to the ANC culture.
“The NEC unanimously agreed to take collective responsibility for the poor performance of the ANC during the elections and resolved to take immediate and bold actions to address the weaknesses and shortcomings that led to the decline of our electoral support,” he said.
He emphatic that the issue of Zuma stepping down was not entertained at the NEC meeting.
“What we saw doesn’t point fingers. There was no proposal from the floor on the president to step down,” he said.
Although he faced a barrage of questions from the media around Zuma’s questionable leadership style, Mantashe was unperturbed in his stance that fingers shouldn’t only be wagged at Zuma alone. “The question is should we blame one person for the performance of the ANC? The debate concluded that all of us in the NEC must take responsibility of the poor performance. That is what came out (of the meeting).”
Mantashe said the NEC's resolution followed “a vigorous, honest, open and thorough assessment of the local government election outcomes”. The decision came amid media reports that a frank internal assessment report from the ANC’s national working committee has warned the party’s top leaders to face up to the fact that it is in decline or risk ultimately losing power. The report has revealed the overwhelming majority of South Africans believe Zuma should step down as ANC president, and as president of the country. Mantashe appeared unperturbed on Sunday as he spelt out the NEC’s stance about collective responsibility.
“We talk of collective leadership all the time. That is the collective discussion of collective leadership. If there are issues that contributed to the decline of the organisation at the time, leadership at the time, all of us are responsible.”
The NWC dossier also raised concerns around corruption within the ANC-led government, including the scandals that have characterised state-owned enterprises, notably the SABC and SAA, which are having a negative impact on the ANC. Mantashe sidestepped media questions around alleged corruption, saying that while this was what the party was dealing with, there was need to distinguish between reality and perception”.
He said while the ANC was disappointed at the loss of a number of key municipalities and failing to retain our majority in the metros of Tshwane, Josburg, Nelson Mandela Bay and Ekurhuleni, the NEC NEC reaffirmed the commitment of the ANC “as the liberation movement and governing party since 1994 to continue the agenda of transforming South Africa...”
The NEC’s resolution also came as the coalition negotiations were due to reach a crucial stage this week, with political parties in the hung metros where no party secured an outright victory were expected to have their first council sittings. The EFF, which is being courted by both the ANC and the DA in the so called crown jewel metros of Tshwane and Joburg, has reportedly demanded that Zuma quit as the ANC leader and state president as a precondition for entering into a coalition with the ruling party.
While he confirmed that the ANC had met the EFF for coalition talks, Mantashe sounded incoherent while conceding that that the ANC was in a predicament because of some of the red berets’ demands. “When the EFF says it demands the president to step down, you know, when you negotiate coalitions, it’s almost an impossible task… If opposition parties insist that the president should step down … we are taking to them. If no deal, we will be in opposition benches, full stop.”
Mantashe condemned the behaviour of the DA's mayoral candidates in Joburg and Nelson Mandela, who have reported conducted themselves in a manner suggesting that they were already in power.
“It's the same in the City of Johannesburg, where you walk in the offices and say the mayor when is your term ending. Just because there are prospects, doesn’t make you a mayor. That kind of behaviour is unbecoming. That behaviour is strange... Anything before council sittings, it’s premature.”
lebogang.seale@inl.co.za
The Star