Ramaphosa signals Zuma’s departure
• NEC members say recall to be discussed on Thursday • Top 6 to meet Gigaba on education
ANC president Cyril Ramaphosa on Sunday gave his strongest indication yet that President Jacob Zuma’s days as the country’s president were numbered, saying that the matter “must be addressed”, but that Zuma should not be humiliated.
In an interview with the SABC on the ANC’s January 8 statement, Ramaphosa cautioned party leaders against humiliating Zuma, saying that while “this issue is being raised by everyone … it is a matter that is delicate”.
“We should never humiliate president Zuma,” he said.
In a further indication that he intends to take control of government sooner rather than later, Ramaphosa and his colleagues in the ANC’s top six will on Monday meet Finance Minister Malusi Gigaba and Treasury officials to discuss the funding of higher education.
This will be the second meeting Ramaphosa has held with Treasury officials on the matter since the start of 2018.
On the agenda is likely to be what Ramaphosa has referred to as “tough choices”. These include the funding options for the new higher education plan, most notably, a discussion over whether to hike VAT or personal income tax, or both.
The ANC’s January 8 statement said that the policy announced by Zuma, and endorsed by the ANC national conference, would allow all returning university students who are already recipients of National Students Financial Aids Scheme (NSFAS) loans to have these converted to grants.
The new earnings threshold to qualify for NSFAS, which has shifted to R350,000 per household, will apply only to new university entrants in 2018.
All qualifying students at public technical and vocational education and training colleges will receive full bursaries for tuition, study materials and subsidised accommodation or transport.
Ramaphosa’s comments on dealing with the Zuma matter come days before the ANC’s national executive committee meets for an ordinary two-day session on Thursday, at which several members said that
Zuma’s recall from the Union Buildings would be raised.
In the interview, Ramaphosa said the key criterion that leaders of the ANC would apply to solving the matter would be “how to advance the interests of SA and not how to advance the interests of a particular individual”.
While Ramaphosa does not want Zuma humiliated, and on Saturday, rebuked ANC members who booed him at the East London rally, he also made it clear at the weekend that prosecutions in connection with state capture had to proceed immediately, and not wait for the outcome of the commission of inquiry, which “could take years”.
Zuma was booed at least three times by ANC supporters who attended the January 8 statement presentation on Saturday, signalling their unhappiness with SA’s president.
Zuma in a statement on Sunday denied press reports and rumours that he was negotiating his exit and had made demands such as former MP Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma’s installation as deputy president of the country.
“No such discussion has taken place and no such discussion has been made anywhere by president Zuma,” a statement from the Presidency reads. In the statement, Zuma confirmed that he had met Ramaphosa to update each other on matters relating to the party and the government, and among issues they discussed was the commission of inquiry into state capture.
Zuma appointed the commission two days later.
Ramaphosa, in the interview, also referred to the meeting with Zuma, saying that he was “very pleased with the outcome” and that future meetings would be conducted with similar decorum. Apart from the funding higher education, the financial state of Eskom is another pressing matter that needs Ramaphosa’s urgent attention.
Local lenders have been closed to Eskom for new loans for the past three months.
Eskom has been unable to publish its interim results as it is not a going concern.
The refinancing of existing loans to Eskom comes up in mid-February.
In East London on Saturday, Ramaphosa said the ANC needed to act with urgency and purpose to restore the integrity of governance in stateowned enterprises.