Zuma shouldn't be focus of ANC's KZN conference: Zikalala

Former president Jacob Zuma File photo: ANA

Former president Jacob Zuma File photo: ANA

Published Jun 7, 2018

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Durban - KwaZulu-Natal ANC leader Sihle Zikalala said the party did not want to make former president Jacob Zuma a central point of this weekend’s provincial conference.

Asked whether Zuma would attend, Zikalala was vague, saying only that the former president was a member of the Nkandla branch.

Zikala said president Cyril Ramaphosa was meant to have attended but is attending the G7 summit in Canada at the weekend.

National party chairperson Gwede Mantashe will attend, Zikalala confirmed.

Zuma and his role in KwaZulu-Natal has been at the forefront of political discussions with the SACP questioning the rationale for his influence on KZN and Zuma hitting back.

On Wednesday Zuma issued a stern warning apparently aimed at the SA Communist Party, saying that they should not provoke him.

Zuma, speaking at the Congress of South African Students (Cosas) meeting on free education in Durban, said there were people who were talking about him. “I have been keeping quiet when I was president of the country with respect to them and not that I don’t have anything to say.

“I want to warn them...they must keep quiet. They must discuss their organisation and not me because I have things to say about their organisation and themselves,” he said.

Zuma is due to appear in the Durban High Court on Friday to face charges related to fraud, racketeering and money laundering did not mention the name of the organisation.

The SACP at the weekend accused Zuma of being at the heart of a pushback against the ANC leadership and state capture

SACP general-secretary Blade Nzimande said attempts to fight back the drive against corruption and state capture must not be underestimated, adding that they were linked to Zuma.

“In many ways former president Zuma is at the heart of this counter-revolutionary fight-back, together with a circle of discredited individuals, many themselves facing the likelihood of criminal prosecution.

SACP deputy general secretary Solly Mapaila accused the ANC of being soft on Zuma.

Political Bureau

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ANCJacob Zuma