Zuma’s last supper?
SG to also explain why Sona was postponed
President Jacob Zuma, Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa shared a light moment yesterday during a cabinet sitting in Cape Town as the nation waited for news on Zuma’s fate.
ANC secretary-general Ace Magashule will today brief the party’s members of parliament (MPs) on the ongoing discussions on President Jacob Zuma’s future.
This after ANC president Cyril Ramaphosa met with Zuma on Tuesday to discuss his exit as SA’s president.
Yesterday, ANC spokesman Pule Mabe said Magashule would also explain to the MPs why the State of the Nation Address (Sona) was postponed.
Ramaphosa is also scheduled to attend the meeting.
Ramaphosa yesterday released a statement saying he was aware of the anxiety around Zuma’s future.
“However, I am certain that the process we have now embarked on will achieve an outcome that not only addresses these concerns, but also unites our people around the tasks that all of us must necessarily undertake to build our country.
“We will be able to communicate further on President Zuma’s position as president of the Republic once we have finalised all pertinent matters.”
ANC chief whip Jackson Mthembu said today’s special caucus meeting would go ahead as planned. Ramaphosa announced on Tuesday night the postponement of the national executive committee (NEC) meeting that was scheduled to take place in Cape Town yesterday.
The meeting was going to discuss Zuma’s future after the ANC national working committee had recommended that he be recalled.
Today’s meeting is a rare gathering as the ANC parliamentary caucus usually does not hold meetings until the delivery of Sona by the president, which also marks the official opening of the legislature.
Meanwhile, at a closed meeting of chief whips of all parties represented in the National Assembly, Mthembu deflected questions from his opposition counterparts who wanted clarity on the next date of Sona.
However, the chief whips’ forum in parliament agreed that whatever happened in the coming weeks, the scheduled delivery of the national budget by Finance Minister Malusi Gigaba on February 21 would still go ahead.
Opposition parties also released a statement saying they were going to meet on Monday to discuss a way forward if Zuma was still in power.
They have given the ANC until Sunday to get rid of him.
ANC leaders were yesterday still in the dark regarding the “deal” that Ramaphosa and Zuma have agreed on.
An ANC Youth League leader close to Zuma told Sowetan: “We were only told that the [NEC] meeting has been cancelled. Nobody explained in detail the ongoing discussions between comrades Zuma and Ramaphosa.”