Zuma calls five bigwigs to Pretoria

PRESIDENT Jacob Zuma last night summoned five top leaders of the ANC at short notice to a meeting in Pretoria.

Times Media reliably learnt that the officials were given a message to meet the president at 6.30pm at his presidential residence‚ Mahlambandlovu.

The president’s office was tasked at communicating the message late yesterday afternoon and the officials were made to go to Pretoria at short notice.

Apart from himself as the party president, the other top five officials are Cyril Ramaphosa‚ Baleka Mbete‚ Gwede Mantashe‚ Jessie Duarte and Zweli Mkhize.

The meeting comes three days after Zuma told them that he wanted to remove Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan and his deputy Mcebisi Jonas.

Only in exceptional circumstances does Zuma summon the ANC’s top leaders when an issue cannot wait until their scheduled Monday meetings.

On Monday‚ Zuma cited an intelligence report which seeks to implicate Gordhan in trying to overthrow the state as a reason to remove him. The president indicated he would replace Gordhan with newly sworn-in ANC MP Brian Molefe but this was rejected by at least three of the top leaders.

Zuma arrived in Pretoria from Cape Town after addressing the House of Traditional Leaders. At the time of writing last night, no official statement had been issued from the meeting of the party leaders.

Apart from divisions with in his own party over the matter, Zuma is also facing redoubled efforts by the opposition to have him either voted out of power in a parliamentary no confidence motion, or impeached through the Constitutional Court.

Democratic Alliance leader Mmusi Maimane, said he had written to the speaker of the National Assembly‚ Baleka Mbete‚ to have a motion of no confidence debated in parliament.

He said since Zuma’s “reckless and irrational decision to recall Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan and hid deputy Mcebisi Jonas from the UK on Monday” that gains made by Gordhan and Jonas to restore credibility in the country’s economy following the axing of Nhlanhla Nene last year, “have all but been eviscerated”.

EFF leader, Julius Malema, filed papers with the Constitutional Court detailing what the party called the failure of Mbete‚ to act according to the prescript of her office.

The EFF is seeking an order by the ConCourt to instruct Mbete to take Zuma’s actions in account and take action to have him impeached. — TMG