'ANC's NEC must quit'

ANC chief whip Jackson Mthembu has made a shocking proposal that the party''s top leaders should step down for having failed members as it moves from one crisis to the next.Currently the ANC is divided over the pending prosecution of Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan whose fraud case is set down on November 2nd.Two highly placed sources said the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) had assured Berning Ntlemeza, head of priority crimes unit the Hawks, that it would not back down on the decision to charge Gordhan.Mthembu said he raised the call for the national executive committee (NEC) to resign in subsequent meetings of the party following its dismal performance in the August 3rd local elections.He said that the current leadership “reduced the governing party to something that leaves a bitter taste in the mouth”.Going public for the first time about his call for the leadership to step down, Mthembu told City Press that he was deeply hurt to witness an ANC government using instruments of state to pursue its own minister.He said his target was not President Jacob Zuma and he was “not interested in any position but to save the ANC”.He said he would not be availing himself for a position in the ANC come December 2017, when the party''s national elective conference takes place.He would rather go back to his branch and make a contribution through political education, he added.Two weeks ago, National Director of Public Prosecutions Shaun Abrahams announced that Gordhan would be charged with fraud related to signing off on his former Sars deputy Ivan Pillay''s early retirement.Mthembu and ANC secretary-general Gwede Mantashe, were among senior party leaders and stalwarts who offered Gordhan moral and political support ahead of his appearance in court on November 2.Their support has been interpreted as a tacit vote of no confidence against President Zuma by some in the ANC and government – blaming Zuma for trying to taint Gordhan''s “good name” through trumped-up charges.Other high-ranking ANC officials who have declared their support for Gordhan include Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa, Zweli Mkhize, Aaron Motsoaledi, Enoch Godongwana and Joe Phaahla.But ANC structures such as the youth and women''s leagues, and the Umkhonto weSizwe Military Veterans'' Association, have all said Gordhan must answer to the charges, like any other citizen.Support for the beleaguered finance minister continued to grow this week as business leaders from the country''s 80 largest companies pledged their support for him, saying the charges were “without factual or legal foundation and not in the public interest”.“We stand against the damage this has caused to our economy and to the people of South Africa, especially the poor,” read the pledge.The signatories represent mining companies, major banks, clothing retailers, grocery chain stores, private hospital networks and audit firms including the JSE, Anglo American SA, Barclays Africa, Goldman Sachs, KPMG Southern Africa, Naspers, as well as Business Leadership SA and the Black Business Council.It was widely speculated that, following the outcome of the August elections, some senior ANC members wanted to resign en masse over the ANC''s poor showing.Excessive state expenditure on Zuma''s private home in Nkandla in KwaZulu-Natal was cited as one of the main reasons for the ANC''s nosedive result of 54%.NEWS24/CITY PRESS

'ANC's NEC must quit'

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Namibian Sun 2025-05-05

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'ANC's NEC must quit'

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Namibian Sun 2025-05-05

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