Zuma, Blade meet at alliance political council meeting
Latest cabinet reshuffle a topic for discussion
President Jacob Zuma and South African Communist Party (SACP) general secretary Blade Nzimande came face-to-face yesterday during an alliance political council meeting at Luthuli House after the president had fired him from his cabinet.
Zuma and Nzimande were seated not far from each other. Zuma was in the middle, between his deputy Cyril Ramaphosa and Cosatu president S’dumo Dlamini. Nzimande was seating on the other side with the SACP delegation.
The meeting discussed Zuma’s cabinet reshuffle last week, among other things.
The alliance political council is a meeting that is attended by officials of the ANC, Cosatu and SACP.
The meeting has been postponed several times amid claims that some officials were not available.
Zuma has previously said he would not meet with the SACP. The SACP has been critical of his close friends the Guptas and their alleged influence over Zuma and some cabinet ministers.
ANC deputy secretary-general Jessie Duarte said yesterday outside Luthuli House that there have been a number of different issues raised by various alliance partners in the public domain.
“The meeting is running extremely well and there is a good mood in the meeting, there’s a mood of listening and raising issues very honestly,” Duarte said.
She said the meeting would look at problems facing the ANC-led alliance and how to strengthen it.
“We are all committed to ensuring that we walk out of this meeting with the alliance intact and certainly that is the spirit of the meeting.
“This is not a meeting to dismantle the alliance,” she said.
The SACP and Cosatu have repeatedly called on Zuma to step down.