Jacob Zuma must be expelled from the African National Congress (ANC) if the party hopes to succeed in rooting out corruption, some members of the party have suggested.
This is according to a City Press report. It said: ‘As the lobby grows for the ANC to act against secretary-general Ace Magashule, supporters of President Cyril Ramaphosa are starting to argue that until the party acts against his predecessor, Jacob Zuma, indiscipline will remain entrenched in the party.’
It noted that the party’s national executive committee (NEC) decision earlier this year – that all those implicated in acts of wrongdoing should step aside – was ‘ being defied by the party’s structures’.
The report noted that, this week, the ANC in KwaZulu-Natal reinstated provincial deputy chairperson Mike Mabuyakhulu to his position, despite his facing criminal charges, and that ANC MP Bongani Bongo – who is facing corruption charges and initially stepped down – also returned to Parliament this week to assume his position as chairperson of the portfolio committee on home affairs.
The lobby is arguing that the absence of action against Zuma, who is facing numerous criminal charges and has been implicated at the Zondo commission of inquiry into state capture, is encouraging this defiance.
The report quoted a member of the KwaZulu-Natal lobby group as saying: ‘This whole notion of stepping aside won’t bear any fruit because the ANC has failed to pin down Zuma since 2005. It’s been 15 years and nothing’s been done. Now we have other senior members learning from his book. As long as we’re still seeing Zuma in his Nkandla home, we won’t rid ourselves of this corruption.’