Now it’s ANC versus ANC
‘Zuma’s inactive and negligent leadership and disruptive actions to blame’
AS CALLS intensified for President Jacob Zuma to step down, former National Assembly Speaker and deputy chairperson of the ANC Integrity Commission Frene Ginwala gave Water Affairs Minister Nomvula Mokonyane a dressing down for how she defended the president.
Last night, Mokonyane, one of Zuma’s staunch supporters, launched a spirited fight back from the president’s camp against his critics.
Zuma also received backing from an unlikely ally, prominent businessman Richard Maponya, who reportedly said he was justified in firing Pravin Gordhan as finance minister as he was defiant.
Earlier ANC alliance partner, Cosatu, joined the SA Communist Party in calling for Zuma to step down.
The ANC veterans also reiterated their call the president be recalled from the top post.
Mokonyane used an ANC Youth League rally in Ekurhuleni to hit out at the party’s Integrity Commission, claiming its credibility was questionable.
She accused the commission, led by ANC stalwart Andrew Mlangeni, of having leaked a letter to the media on Monday, in which Mlangeni reportedly called on Zuma to step down following the reshuffle.
Mokonyane had left an extended ANC national working committee meeting under way at Luthuli House to address the ANC Youth League faithful.
The league also threw its weight behind Zuma.
At the rally Ekurhuleni mayor Mzwandile Masina criticised leaders who spoke out against Zuma, using press conferences instead of following correct procedures as underlined in the ANC constitution.
But Ginwala dismissed Mokonyane, saying she had no authority to speak on behalf of the party.
Speaking to Independent Media last night, Ginwala said Mokonyane was the “same lady” who told Bekkersdal residents that the ANC didn’t want their dirty votes.
“She’s never denied it. That on its own speaks for itself. Whoever does that? With what authority is she speaking for the ANC? You can quote me on that.”
Earlier, Cosatu general secretary Bheki Ntshalintshali told reporters the organisation’s biggest issue was Zuma’s decision not to consult alliance partners on the reshuffle.
He said the fact that many underperforming ministers were not reshuffled proved that Zuma’s reshuffle was influenced by political loyalty and not merit.
Cosatu held Zuma personally responsible for Monday’s credit downgrade by Standard & Poor’s due to his “inactive and negligent leadership and disruptive actions” that had led to rating agencies interfering in the country’s politics.
“We think it’s a serious debate that will need proper engagement. We believe our call has merit, we believe that if we have to save the movement the individual becomes secondary,” said Ntshalintshali.
The federation’s president, Sdumo Dlamini, said they now looked to the ANC’s national working committee to respond with a united answer that the party was done with slate politics, and that it was willing to lead the country as the alliance expected them to.
The extended NWC, which included the party’s provincial secretaries and chairpersons, was locked in a marathon meeting last night. The ANC veterans also reiterated their call that Zuma should step down, saying he had “crossed the line” and that he was a law unto himself.
They confirmed at a press briefing the ANC’s integrity commission had written to Zuma calling on him to resign.
Former ANC deputy secretarygeneral Cheryl Carolus reminded Zuma he was not representing his “own jacket but the wishes of the African National Congress”.
She lashed out him for “defying and dividing” the party, saying no president in the history of Africa’s oldest liberation movement had done what he had done.
But yesterday Zuma justified his reshuffling of the cabinet, and thanked Gordhan for ensuring a “smooth transition” of power to new Finance Minister Malusi Gigaba.
Delivering the keynote address at the TransAfrica locomotive launch at Koedoespoort, Pretoria, he said: “We also wish to emphasise that government has been, and will remain, committed to a measured fiscal consolidation that stabilises the rise in public debt.”