Anonymous letter makes claim of plans to expel Zuma from ANC

Former President Jacob Zuma Elmond Jiyane, GCIS

Former President Jacob Zuma Elmond Jiyane, GCIS

Published Oct 19, 2020

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Durban - A letter, purportedly written by 10 ANC members from Mandeni in KwaZulu-Natal, claims that there are plans to get former president Jacob Zuma, expelled from the ruling party.

The letter surfaced on Monday and it has already reached its intended recipient, the ANC in KZN. Its authors are demanding that the ruling party holds a national general council (only the national office can convene the council - not provinces) so that they can use the opportunity to speak out as members.

However, the letter failed the basic tests of verification as it was only sent to the ruling party via email, yet the same email bounced when Independent Media tried to reach the author for further clarity.

The email address was the only contact information on the letter that made several serious allegations, with some of them outright outlandish and untrue.

Talking about the plan to expel Zuma, the letter claims that the ongoing criminal charges emanating from the arms deal would be the weapon for his opponents.

"We have concrete evidence of the existence of a grouping of leaders that has been secretly approaching activists in the province for the purposes of using them to profile and promote Cyril Ramaphosa in KwaZulu Natal while discrediting all those perceived to be supporters of President Zuma. What is most disturbing and outrageous in all of this, is their plan to have President Zuma expelled from the ANC," the letter claims.

They further named the five senior ANC members who hail from KZN who are known supporters of Ramaphosa and who they claim want Zuma out using the "step aside" resolution of the ruling party.

According to them, the leaders recently met in Mpangeni and Pietermaritzburg where the clandestine plot to get rid of Zuma was hatched and further polished.

But their claims were roundly rebutted by the ANC in the province.

Provincial spokesperson, Nhlakanipho Ntombela, said the leaders named in the letter have told the party that they have never engaged in the plot they are accused of hatching.

"Yes we have received it (the letter). We are still going to process it firstly by ascertaining the individual who wrote it as it has no contact details other than email address and the other 10 signatories. Secondly, we can confirm that the alleged individuals in the letter dispute the contents and the alleged plot they are said to be engaged on. Worse they have never met as that grouping of individuals for a very long time," Ntombela said.

The same letter also dived into the reportedly pending arrest of ANC secretary-general, Ace Magashule and claim that he would be nabbed before this year folds.

"Despite the recent speculation, we know that the Secretary General, comrade Ace Magashule, is to be arrested by December 2020 and he will be forced into stepping aside," the members claimed in the letter.

It is worth noting that the Hawks have publicly said it had no plans to arrest Magashule. Magashule himself told the SABC while campaigning in Lenasia, Johannesburg on Sunday that his lawyers were in touch with the law enforcement agencies regarding the matter.

Political Bureau

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ANCJacob Zuma