Why Mbeki’s fate won’t befall Jacob Zuma

It’s unlikely that the ANC’s parliamentary caucus will either initiate or vote for the impeachment of President Jacob Zuma.

Members of parliament are not voted for directly – depending on where the individual appears on the party list’s pecking order, they will (or won’t) be assigned a seat in parliament.

The party list of each province requires the final sign-off of the ANC president, which gives Jacob Zuma the right to remove candidates.

It was Thabo Mbeki who, during his tenure, gave himself this power of veto to increase his control over the ANC caucus. This control was evidenced by the constant and unremitting applause from the ANC’s parliamentary benches during Jacob Zuma’s Sona.

Recent history shows that the ANC’s national executive council (NEC) can, indeed, recall the president – it was they who effectively deposed Thabo Mbeki. But would they recall Jacob Zuma?

Numbers of NEC delegates are allocated to provinces according to the comparative size of their provincial party membership numbers. In this regard, what is significant is that membership numbers in Jacob Zuma’s province of KZN have increased dramatically and in the Eastern Cape and other provinces have dwindled drastically.

In addition, Cabinet ministers (all Zuma appointees) qualify for NEC membership. Senior Luthuli House figures make up the balance.

Will Zuma be impeached? Highly unlikely.

How can the country survive on Zuma’s word yet again? The antics of the EEF in parliament have reached their sellbydate. They have a lot to learn about behaving in a civilised society. If it wasn’t for our incompetent and useless ANC government dragging their feet regarding land reform, we could have been a net importer of food years ago like Zimbabwe.