Second chance for ANC to get rid of Zuma as pressure rises
The ANC’s national executive committee (NEC) will this week have its second opportunity to oust President Jacob Zuma.
The NEC lekgotla is scheduled to take place at the weekend. This follows a special NEC meeting that took place ahead of the party’s January 8 statement delivered by ANC President Cyril Ramaphosa in East London on Saturday.
The NEC is the highest decision-making body in the ANC, and any decision made to recall or remove Zuma from office, would be made there.
Zuma’s recall was not discussed on the first special NEC, but is likely to be raised this weekend as pressure is mounting for his recall.
The agenda for the NEC lekgotla is not yet set, as the top six officials would discuss it on Monday. The agenda is ordinarily set by the NEC’s smaller national working committee, but it has not yet been elected. The lekgotla comes before the state of the nation address in February. This also marks the opening of Parliament for the year.
It is expected that Zuma’s announcement on free higher education will feature prominently in the discussions, as universities will officially open their doors in February.
To date there has been no indication of how the plan will be funded. An announcement on the details is only expected during the budget speech.
Department of Higher Education spokesman Madikwe Mabotha said discussions with stakeholders would continue this week.
Meanwhile, the dissension within the DA is set to continue. The party’s federal executive met on Sunday to discuss the removal of Patricia de Lille as Cape Town mayor.
The metro is in the middle of a water crisis, but bickering has continued even as solutions are being sought to keep the city supplied.
DA federal executive chairman James Selfe said the party was disappointed that some of its sections were ventilating their thoughts on De Lille through the media and called on members to refrain from doing so.
Selfe said the DA would act in the best interest of the people of Cape Town on the matter, and that it was vital that this process was allowed to go ahead and not be prejudiced considering the serious nature of the allegations. However, De Lille was expected to fight to keep her position.
Schools will also be opening this week and the DA in Gauteng warns that there may not be space for all pupils in the province.
Reasons include a backlog in placements, late applications and parents who are unhappy with the placements already secured.