Calls for Zuma’s recall not discussed by NEC, but ‘nothing’s off-limits’ – Mantashe

On the second day of the ANC’s national executive committee (NEC) meeting in Irene‚ Pretoria‚ the party’s secretary-general Gwede Mantashe said calls for President Jacob Zuma to step down were not on the agenda, but “nothing was off-limits”.

On Saturday Mantashe said “today we are in the hard business of the NEC” after the structure dealt with soft issues on Friday evening when it met, TimesLIVE reported.

He said Zuma had presented a political overview that included “a number of important and fundamental issues.” However, Mantashe didn’t offer more details on what these fundamental issues were.

The NEC, which is the ANC’s highest decision-making body between national conferences, had not discussed calls for Zuma to be recalled by the party’s veterans, alliance partners Cosatu and the SACP, including civil society organisations.

The ANC’s national working committee (NWC) was expected to present its report‚ “which covers many issues‚ including issues that are very current”, Mantashe said without elaborating on what these might be.

Following the report by the NWC, NEC members would spend the rest of the meeting discussing issues relevant to the governing party and South Africa. The next two days would be “quite hectic and heavy”‚ Mantashe said, according to the report.

One of the issues to be tackled by the structure would be the ANC’s succession debate but no mention of candidates for leadership positions ahead of the party’s December national elective conference would be permitted.

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