ANC postpones Zuma hearing
The ANC’s disciplinary hearing of former leader Jacob Zuma, which was supposed to get under way on Tuesday, will be held “in abeyance” until after the elections due to security reasons, says ANC secretary-general Fikile Mbalula. Briefing the media on Sunday, Mbalula said that based on a security assessment, his office was advised that gatherings outside Luthuli House on the day could lead to “violent or disruptive” behaviour.
The ANC’s disciplinary hearing of former leader Jacob Zuma, which was supposed to get under way on Tuesday, will be held “in abeyance” until after the elections due to security reasons, says the ANC secretarygeneral, Fikile Mbalula.
Briefing the media on Sunday, Mbalula said that based on a security situation assessment, his office was advised that gatherings outside“the party’s Luthuli House headquarters on the day could lead to violent or disruptive” behaviour.
“It was in this context that the NDC [national disciplinary committee] was requested to be mindful of these concerns and consider holding in abeyance any disciplinary proceedings that require in-person meetings at Luthuli House until after the 2024 elections,” said Mbalula.
The ANC recently served Zuma, who is leading the uMkhonto weSizwe (MK) party, with a notice to appear before a disciplinary hearing for contravening party rules.
The former SA and ANC president is technically still a member of the ANC, though he was suspended in January after he announced his support for the MK party in December.
Zuma is accused of contravening rule 25 of the ANC constitution, which bars members from organising or participating in activities of another political party not allied with the ANC.
Zuma tops the MK party list to parliament, which is also a contravention of the ANC’s constitution. The former president’s candidacy is, however, being challenged by the Independent Electoral Commission of SA (IEC) in the Constitutional Court. An earlier ruling by the electoral court upheld a decision by the MK party to include Zuma in its list of candidates to parliament.
Zuma’s court cases have often turned into political rallies and provided the former president with a platform to address his supporters and followers.
During the media briefing on Sunday, Mbalula lashed out at what he described as “counterrevolutionary and antitransformation forces”, which he said were seeking to fragment the forces for change through “splinter groups and small parties that will contest the ANC”.
“They actively encourage rebel breakaway groupings to erode the support base of the ANC. Often these start as factional conflicts within the ANC, but when the movement pushes ahead with its renewal they mutate into opposition parties that are as opposed to the ANC as the right-wing opponents of transformation,” said Mbalula.
“Some of these parties masquerade as more radical than the ANC, but their revolutionary sounding rhetoric cannot hide the reality that they have common cause with the forces opposing transformation. The shared goal of all these forces is to deprive the ANC of the ability to use state power to effect change.”
These elements included former leaders of the party, said Mbalula.
He said that these members had in the eyes of ANC members “constructively resigned” or “expelled themselves” from the ANC.
“Notwithstanding this reality, the ANC is committed to the rule of law and following the provisions processes set out in the ANC constitution, including disciplinary processes.”
According to several polls, the ANC’s national electoral support could fall below 50% for the first time, which could force it into a coalition with smaller political parties to hold on to power.
Mbalula said that members of the ANC national executive committee and leaders of its leagues and the tripartite alliance would on Monday start a “week of intensive campaigning” in KwaZulu-Natal.
“This intensive election campaign trail is both unprecedented and an innovation.
“The following week, from May 13 to May 19, the intensive campaign trail moves to the Gauteng province and beyond,” said Mbalula.
KwaZulu-Natal has been a hive of activity as election day approaches, with the ANC, EFF and IFP holding manifesto rallies in the province in February and March.
In Gauteng, the ANC’s support has been on the wane. In the 2019 provincial election, the ANC received 2.1-million votes, or 50.1%, down from the 53.5% it mustered in 2014. Mbalula said that the ANC will hold its Siyanqoba rally on May 25 at FNB Stadium in Johannesburg, just four days before the May 29 general election.