Johannesburg - President Jacob Zuma’s decision to remain head of state is hurting South Africa and he should step down. That was the advice on Friday of the National Religious Leaders’ Council to the ANC.
At a meeting with the ruling party, leading clerics asked the party to tell Zuma to “end the nation’s hurt” and relinquish his office. The president had lost moral legitimacy and the confidence of the public to govern. they said.
“We requested the party leadership to assist the president to resign in the best interests of the country,” said SA Council of Churches (SACC) general secretary Malusi Mpumlwana.
“This is a pastoral concern rather than a political campaign. This is about saying how can the country heal and go beyond the current challenges of morality.”
Read: Church leaders ask ANC to ‘help Zuma quit’
Also read: Zuma puts on a brave face
The latest call ratchets up the pressure on an embattled Zuma as he grimly holds on to office, following last week’s Constitutional Court decision he failed to “respect, uphold, and defend” the Constitution of the Republic.
Since that ruling, there has been a growing cacophony of voices in and outside the ANC for Zuma to go. This week a meeting of the party’s National Working Committee decided to accept Zuma’s partial apology for his transgressions, but also to “listen to the people” in the light of a national mood of anger.
A range of ANC stalwarts and veterans, anti-apartheid activists, business leaders, the children of once-exiled ANC leaders and civil society formations have joined the chorus demanding Zuma’s removal.
The clerics said they rejected Zuma’s apology if it was not linked to leaving office.
SA Council of Churches president Bishop Ziphozihle Siwa said Zuma’s apology was directed at those “who are confused”. He said the “pain” of the political crisis had also been expressed by an ANC delegation they had met.
“The issues are far bigger than the president but he is a representative of political leadership of this nation,” he said. “There comes a point where it is better to change gears. It’s about the president choosing of his own volition that this is actually better for the country.”
One-time Zuma backer Pastor Ray McCauley said there was strong sentiment that the direction taken by the country’s leadership was not in the best interest of the nation.
Reverend Frank Chikane said the ANC leadership they had met was also “hurting”, and this was a “very difficult moment”. He said the call was not about regime change but to avoid events that might cost lives.
On Thursday 40 former members of “Masupatsela” or “young pioneers” – South Africans who were born or raised in exile – threw their weight behind calls for action against Zuma, accusing him of embarrassing the ANC and flouting the constitution.
On Friday ANC spokesman Zizi Kodwa said the party had agreed on the need for further discussion with the religious sector.
Internally the ANC has also faced calls for the party to call a special conference to elect a new leadership and there are concerns the political cost of the ANC’s decision to vote against the opposition’s impeachment motion in Parliament this week could be felt in four months when local government elections are held.
Saturday Star