Polokwane - The ANC Veterans League in Limpopo says the National Executive Committee (NEC) should ask President Jacob Zuma to resign before the State of the Nation Address (Sona).
The league said Zuma’s continued stay as president of the country has negative consequences for the ANC and the country ahead of the national elections next year.
This is the latest attempt by some members of the ANC to push for Zuma to resign as president. Earlier this week, the ANC Provincial Executive Committee in the Eastern Cape called for Zuma’s removal to be fast-tracked.
The ANC’s recent National Working Committee meeting also discussed Zuma’s exit and it was decided that the top six would meet with Zuma to discuss his future.
The Limpopo Veterans League said Zuma was too tainted especially as allegations of corruption and state capture have continued to pile-up against him.
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“Whilst we acknowledge that the ANC is faced with innumerable challenges which cannot be solved within a short space of time, it is equally our assertion that our organisation has been battered and bruised long enough and that some issues can no longer be postponed. Chief amongst these is the immediate recall of Cde Jacob Zuma as the President of the South Africa. Our people have given the ANC too many chances to act on the matter and failure to do so immediately will cost us dearly.”
“We therefore request the NEC to urgently request Cde Jacob Zuma to resign before the State of the Nation Address, which will take place in two weeks' time. Failure for him to do so, he must be recalled as a deployee of the ANC in government,” said the league.
The league also had harsh words for ANC secretary general Ace Magashule and deputy secretary general Jessie Duarte, who are staunch supporters of the president.
The pair have been outspoken in their rebuke of calls for Zuma to resign.
They said he would be allowed to finish his term. This was contrary to reports that the party’s leadership was working on a plan for Zuma to leave peacefully.
Magashule and Duarte’s comments have been labelled as “blind loyalty” as they contradicted ANC President Cyril Ramaphosa’s comments that Zuma’s exist was being “negotiated”.
“We call upon Cde Ace Magashule and Cde Jessie Duarte to desist from making reckless and irresponsible statements that will revoke the anger of the people of South Africa and risk their wrath against the ANC in the 2019 general elections,” said the league.
Another push for Zuma’s removal comes from opposition parties, the DA and the EFF.
The DA wrote to Parliamentary Speaker Baleka Mbete requesting that Sona be postponed until Zuma’s removal as president. While the EFF asked for the National Assembly to debate a motion of no confidence in Zuma.
But Mbete was quick to dismiss the requests saying Sona would be held next week Thursday as planned and that there would be no special sitting of Parliament ahead of Sona.
The EFF warned that it would bring up its concerns with Zuma during his annual address as the party has done on previous occasions.