Even with no response ANC will forge ahead with disciplinary action against Zuma, says Mbalula

The ANC secretary-general Fikile Mbalula said the party will press on with disciplinary action against former president Jacob Zuma.

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Mbalula who was speaking at a National Executive Committee (NEC) Lekgotla press briefing told the media that he was not sure if Zuma had written back to the party concerning his suspension but he said even if he had it would not make a difference to the NEC resolutions.

“The decision of the National Executive Committee will be enforced and will be implemented. That decision has been announced publicly as it is public a requirement of our constitution,” he said.

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Mbalula said the ANC had several options to communicate to Zuma concerning his suspension.

“You can announce the decision publicly, you can communicate the decision by way of writing or telephonically so all of the above have been done,” he said.

Mbalula said he had noted that there had been a video on social media where Zuma was speaking in vernacular concerning his suspension and pending expulsion from the ANC.

But he said Zuma would still have to respond formally to the ANC’s communication of the charges he faces. It was not clear when Zuma would sit in front of a disciplinary committee.

He has been accused of breaking the ANC’s constitution and bringing the party into disrepute through his involvement in the formation of the uMkonto weSizwe (MK) Party

Zuma no longer ANC member

Meanwhile, KwaZulu-Natal provincial secretary Bheki Mtolo said Zuma was “no longer a member of the African National Congress (ANC)”.

This is what the governing party’s Mtolo told SAFM.

This after, Zuma announced that he would support the Umkhonto weSizwe party (MK) party ahead of the 2024 general elections because the ANC had strayed from its core values.

Treason and treachery

The former president has been on a campaign trail for the newly formed MK party, which has been seen by many as a breakaway faction of the ANC.

Analysts labelled Zuma’s move a blow for the ANC, and its Veterans League said it amounted to “treason and treachery”.