Jacob Zuma speech postponed amid ANC crisis. By Jason Burke
Jacob Zuma’s grip on
power appeared to be weakening on Tuesday following the decision of
parliamentary officials to delay a key national speech the embattled South
African president was due to give this week. The unprecedented measure
underlines the crisis within the ruling African National Congress as the party
tries to manage an increasingly chaotic transfer of power from the incumbent
president to his deputy and rival, Cyril
Ramaphosa. Top party leaders will meet in Johannesburg on Wednesday and may
ask Zuma, who is facing multiple charges of corruption, to resign.
The 75 year old
veteran was scheduled to give the annual State of the Nation Address to
parliament on Thursday. However the address has now been postponed, possibly by
a week. “We decided to approach [President Jacob Zuma] to postpone the state of
the nation address ... We need to create room for establishing a much more
conducive atmosphere in parliament,” Baleka Mbete, the national assembly
speaker, told reporters outside parliament in Cape Town. Mbete did not give a
new date for the speech. A statement from the presidency later claimed Zuma had
requested the delay.
Ralph Mathekga, a
political analyst, said the postponement was deeply damaging to the ANC. “The
ANC’s inability to manage the transition has resulted in the disruption of key
institutions. There is no way Zuma can survive now but the question is the cost
to the party,” Mathekga said. Senior ANC leaders met Zuma over the weekend to
ask him to step down. Local media reported that the 75-year-old, who is
battling corruption allegations, refused.
The ANC’s national
executive committee, its top decision-making body, will meet on Wednesday to
consider its next step. A decision is expected by late afternoon. One
possibility is that Zuma will be ordered to resign by the NEC, though this may
raise significant constitutional issues. According to ANC rules, all members –
even elected officials – fulfil their functions according to the will of the
party. His premature
departure – Zuma’s second five-year term is due to expire next year – would
consolidate the power of Ramaphosa, who
was elected ANC leader in December and has been Zuma’s deputy since
2014, will become president, in accordance with the constitution.
Zuma had led the ANC
since 2007 and has been South Africa’s president since 2009. His tenure in both
posts has been marred by a series of corruption scandals that have undermined
the image and legitimacy of the party that led South Africans to freedom in
1994.
The Nelson Mandela
Foundation, which promotes the legacy of South Africa’s anti-apartheid icon,
made a rare public intervention in politics on Tuesday, calling for Zuma to be
ousted as he had “demonstrated that he is not fit to govern”. In a damning
statement, it said there was “overwhelming evidence that systematic looting by
patronage networks linked to President Zuma have betrayed the country Nelson
Mandela dreamed of.” The crisis has
revealed the deep personal and ideological splits within the ANC... read more:
