The Herald (South Africa)

TOP-LEVEL TALKS

- By Ranjeni Munusamy

IN DISCUSSION: ANC secretary-general Ace Magashule, left, national chairman Gwede Mantashe, right, and Eastern Cape chairman Oscar Mabuyane chat during a special meeting of the party’s new national executive committee held in East London yesterday ahead of this weekend’s 106th birthday celebratio­ns.

IF ANYONE thought President Jacob Zuma is cornered and out of time‚ his sudden move on Tuesday in announcing a judicial commission of inquiry into state capture showed that he is still a wily operator who can outmanoeuv­re his political opponents.

On the eve of the first meeting of the newly elected ANC national executive‚ Zuma shot down one of the primary grounds for his recall – delaying the state capture inquiry.

Zuma has also stolen the thunder from Cyril Ramaphosa somewhat by announcing the inquiry a few days before the ANC’s 106th anniversar­y rally, at which the deputy president was to make the fight against corruption and state capture the centrepiec­e of his first major policy statement as ANC leader.

Zuma’s surprise decision to appoint the inquiry and to comply with the remedial action of former public protector Thuli Madonsela that Chief Justice Mogoeng Mogoeng select the judge to head the inquiry means that those in the national executive who intended to raise the issue of the president’s recall would need to reframe their arguments.

Just before Christmas‚ Zuma lodged an appeal against the Pretoria High Court judgment affirming Madonsela’s recommenda­tion that Mogoeng select the judge to head the state capture commission of inquiry.

This was seen by some in the ANC leadership as insolence and defying a resolution of the ANC’s 54th national conference‚ which stated that the inquiry should be appointed expeditiou­sly.

Speaking on Tuesday night‚ Zuma said he was “concerned that this matter has occupied the public mind for some time now and deserves urgent attention”.

Despite “reservatio­ns about the legality” of Mogoeng’s selecting the judge‚ Zuma said he had requested that the Chief Justice provide him with the name.

Mogoeng selected Deputy Chief Justice Raymond Zondo to head the commission.

Zuma said he was taking further legal advice on the appeal, but the state capture matter could not wait any longer.

“It is of such serious public concern that any further delay will make the public doubt [the] government’s determinat­ion to dismantle all forms of corruption‚ and entrench the public perception that the state has been captured by private interests for nefarious and self-enrichment purposes‚” Zuma said.

“The commission must seek to uncover not just the conduct of some‚ but of all those who may have rendered our state or parts thereof vulnerable to control by forces other than the public for which [the] government is elected.”

These statements are astonishin­g, considerin­g Zuma’s willingnes­s to hand over his decision-making powers to the Guptas and hitherto delaying tactics to prevent any investigat­ion into state capture.

The terms of reference of the inquiry‚ still to be released by the Presidency‚ will determine what exactly Zondo will probe.

Those in the national executive who want Zuma removed from office will have to show that it is untenable for Zuma to remain president when the centre of power should be vested with the new ANC leadership.

But if Zuma displays a cooperativ­e approach‚ as his statement purports to represent‚ it would be difficult to sustain that argument.

Another factor that counts against him however is his appeal against the Pretoria High Court judgment passing on his power to appoint the National Director of Public Prosecutio­ns to Ramaphosa.

Gauteng Judge-President Dunstan Mlambo found that because Zuma was conflicted as his own case had to be decided by the head of the NPA‚ the deputy president should appoint the NDPP.

Mlambo invalidate­d Zuma’s appointmen­t of Shaun Abrahams.

“Minded by the principle of the separation of powers‚ constituti­onal legality and the rule of law‚ the judgment will be appealed‚” the presidency said early last month.

But several national executive members believe the ANC needs to demonstrat­e willingnes­s to restore the effectiven­ess of the NPA and the criminal justice system and that this could only be done through the appointmen­t of a credible NDPP.

That process is obviously delayed by Zuma’s appeal.

It is understood that Ramaphosa has been canvassing opinion on setting up a special prosecutio­ns process on state capture‚ independen­t from the judicial commission‚ to fast-track cases for which evidence is already in the public domain.

There were plans for him to announce this in his speech on Saturday.

Ramaphosa met Zuma in Durban on Sunday and it is possible that he raised the issues around state capture at that meeting.

Zuma’s backpedall­ing on the judicial inquiry could be his heeding the advice of the new ANC leader, or upstaging him ahead of his speech.

Although the issue of Zuma’s recall was not the main focus of yesterday’s national executive meeting in East London‚ his detractors had planned to raise it for further discussion after the anniversar­y celebratio­ns this week.

The national executive meeting will be the first time the 86 people elected at the December elective conference sit together.

Zuma’s recall is not on the agenda but the issue of “two centres of power” – ANC parlance for the tensions arising from different people leading the party and the state – could be raised.

Ramaphosa’s speech on Saturday will be the first major political statement of the year and of his term at the ANC’s 106th anniversar­y rally on Saturday. The statement is ostensibly on behalf of the new national executive‚ so there must be unanimity behind it.

To achieve this‚ a fallout over Zuma will have to be avoided.

Some of those who previously were solidly behind Zuma are warming to the idea of his leaving office early, but want a managed process to prevent him being embarrasse­d.

One of the main outcomes of the national executive meeting will be the compositio­n of the new 20-member national working committee.

The meeting will also decide on the new ANC spokespers­on and heads of the executive’s subcommitt­ees.

While Ramaphosa is aiming to present a defining speech on Saturday to set the tone for the ANC and the government for the year‚ there is also interest in whether Zuma will show up at the event.

Zuma no longer holds any position in the ANC and is not obliged to attend. His predecesso­r Thabo Mbeki did not attend the 2008 anniversar­y celebratio­ns after Zuma’s election in Polokwane.

But as Zuma demonstrat­ed with his state capture announceme­nt‚ he has the uncanny ability to ride the tiger and turn it into his pussycat.

 ?? Picture: MASI LOSI ??
Picture: MASI LOSI
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