JZ ‘plans to replace Cyril with NDZ’

Cape Town – The South African Communist Party (SACP) yesterday accused President Jacob Zuma of wanting to axe his deputy Cyril Ramaphosa, and further accused the embattled head of state of engaging in dangerous “ethnic mobilisation”.

In a statement hours after Parliament announced that it had taken a decision to postpone the State of the Nation (Sona) address due to the real threat of disruption by opposition political parties if Zuma delivered the speech and the continued political uncertainty in the country, the SACP condemned talk of ethnic mobilisation and challenged Zuma to deny or confirm that he was preparing to fire Ramaphosa.

“The South African Communist Party condemns tribalism in the strongest terms possible and the ethnic mobilisation, including that of Amabutho (Zulu regiments) that President Jacob Zuma has apparently engaged in as part of his plan to continue overstaying his welcome in office.

“The Constitution of our country requires the President to unite, and not to divide, our nation. President Zuma’s conduct is reckless and unacceptable. The SACP is calling on all South Africans to unite in defence of our country and not allow him to go down with our hard-won democracy.”

The SACP further challenged Zuma to deny or confirm information that he is preparing to fire Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa and replace him with Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, who he wants to position to take over as Acting President should he find himself removed from office.

The Presidency last night night dismissed the rumours as “outrageous”.

The Presidency said “the allegations reported in the media are preposterous and outrageous” and added that the allegations are completely baseless.