Johannesburg - ANC secretary general Gwede Mantashe says the ANC is yet to decide on what to do following the judgment by the Supreme Court of Appeal.
“The NPA will decide to charge the President. The judge will say it is the NPA who must decide. It (NPA) has not decided yet. Let’s allow that process to take its course and then the ANC will decide thereafter,” Mantashe said.
ANC Secretary General Gwede Mantshe's reaction to the SCA judgment. #ANCVL #SpyTapes @IOL pic.twitter.com/vmpK6AHNlP
— Noni Mokati (@Noni_M2) October 13, 2017
He was speaking at the sidelines of the ANC Veterans League inaugural conference in Boksburg.
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Earlier in the day the SCA upheld ruling by the Gauteng High Court that the National Prosecuting Authority's decision to drop the corruption charges against President Jacob Zuma was irrational.
Reacting further to the judgment, Mantashe likened the atmosphere to that of 10 years ago when the party held its national elective conference in Polokwane.
“In 2007 we were going to an elective conference. In 2017 we are going to an elective conference where new leadership will be elected. That is what happens. The conference in December is not a function of what the SCA or the high court says. It is a reflection of the ANC that we must have a conference every five years and we will have it.”
Also read: #SpyTapes: Political parties want Zuma to have his day in court
Mantashe also added that by approaching the SCA to appeal, Zuma was exercising his constitutional right.
“You can’t say when there is an appeal to the SCA that the high court has decided. It has not yet decided. Judgment has been given today and that is what we should be following through,” he said.
MK Veteran’s Council leader General Simphiwe Nyanda
MK Veteran’s Council leader General Simphiwe Nyanda called on the NPA to do the right thing.
“NPA is supposed to be an independent entity and that it should do the right thing because this ruling comes from the high court. The are legal people who must reexamine the issue and make a decision in accordance with their conscious.”
Meanwhile Nyanda, who described the ruling as significant for both Zuma and the ANC, said in light of the serious corruption charges, it was incumbent for the President to introspect and do what is best in the interest of the movement.
“It is very difficult to see how the ANC proceeds with a President post this conference with this sitting around every body’s neck. It’s incumbent on the ANC that as these charges that have been put back, the ANC would really have to sit and think about how they will proceed with a President with so many charges . We as the Veterans would advise that the ANC engages and integrates as to how they could go on with a President that is so compromised.”
ANC treasurer-general Zweli Mkhize meanwhile would not be drawn into commenting about the judgment saying: “It is not the right time.”