President’s apology ‘tames’ detractors
• Gordhan removed due to ‘irreconcilable differences’ • ANC accepts Zuma’s explanation
President Jacob Zuma apologised on Tuesday to the ANC’s national working committee (NWC) over party officials’ handling of his cabinet reshuffle, in which former finance minister Pravin Gordhan, his deputy Mcebisi Jonas and three other ministers were axed.
The president initially used a questionable intelligence document on a purported plot by Gordhan and Jonas to justify his reshuffle, when a simple explanation would have sufficed.
ANC secretary-general Gwede Mantashe said Zuma had removed Gordhan due to irreconcilable differences between the two — which was sufficient reason for the president to take the step.
There had been no need for Zuma to use the so-called intelligence report to justify his intended actions.
“The NWC has accepted the irretrievable breakdown of the relationship between the president and a member of his Cabinet as sufficient explanation for the decision taken by the president.
“The issue of the intelligence report complicated the matter, creating a lot of unhappiness,” Mantashe said.
“This was consequently presented as the only reason for his removal, which was unfortunate and incorrect.”
Three of the party’s top six officials spoke out against the reshuffle, in an unprecedented departure from party protocol.
Zuma’s apology caught his opponents and detractors off guard, as the NWC meeting papered over the deep cracks in the ANC that have spilled over into the public domain.
The party’s national officials — the top six of Zuma, Mantashe, Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa, treasurer-general Zweli Mkhize, deputy secretarygeneral Jessie Duarte and chairwoman Baleka Mbete — met until the early hours of Tuesday, ahead of the sitting of the extended working committee in Johannesburg, where their approach was discussed.
Sources who attended the Tuesday meeting told Business Day that Zuma’s apology, on behalf of the officials for their conduct, including his own, had “tamed” what could have been a potentially explosive NWC.
Zuma implied that he too was to blame for the fallout over the reshuffle, because when the officials had raised their con-
cerns about it, during a meeting last Thursday, he had told them they could publicly declare their disagreement. He told the meeting the way the officials had handled it had caused conflict and he apologised for it.
This follows disclosures in Business Day on Tuesday that Zuma had also called Cosatu, expressing regret for failing to consult the federation on his decision to reshuffle the Cabinet — hours before the ANC ally came out publicly and called on Zuma to resign.
The NWC said it did not take kindly to calls from both its allies, the South African Communist Party (SACP) and Cosatu, for Zuma to step down.
At a media briefing on Wednesday on the outcomes of the NWC meeting, Mantashe said that the “public dissonance [between the officials] on the matter was a mistake and should not be committed again”. He did not respond to questions on whether there had been an apology from the president. Duarte revealed that Zuma had wanted to remove Gordhan as early as November 2016.
Zuma backers had raised Gordhan’s conduct in the NWC, saying that he had to be “reined in” as his public comments affected the economy. However, no decision had been taken on the matter.
But Mantashe said he could not imagine that Gordhan would “mobilise against the ANC” as he was a member of its national executive committee.
The NWC also pledged its support to the newly appointed ministers and its continued commitment to “sound and prudent fiscal management”.
On calls by its allies for Zuma to step down, the ANC said it would engage with the SACP and Cosatu on the matter.
The ANC was also upset that the SACP had “breached confidentiality” by holding a media briefing on its bilateral discussions with the party last week.
Asked whether Zuma would remain president, Mantashe said that was a “loaded question”.
“He is the president of the ANC,” he said.