African National Congress (ANC) secretary general Fikile Mbalula has confirmed that the disciplinary action against former President Jacob Zuma will continue.
Mbalula was briefing the media on Saturday following the first sitting of the National Council of Provinces (NCOP).
Zuma was expected to face an ANC disciplinary hearing in May for contravening party rules.
However, Mbalula in a letter seen by The Citizen requested the party’s national disciplinary committee (NDC) chairperson, Ralph Mgijima postponed Zuma’s hearing, citing security concerns and fears of violence before the elections.
With elections now over, Mbalula said the disciplinary action against Zuma will go ahead.
“It will continue. We said that before the elections it must be postponed until after the elections. That disciplinary process will continue. If we are going to ban on the fundamentals for political convenience, the ANC will not exist as a party.
Even at the moment where we’ve got 40% that DC will continue and it cannot be changed. So, if that that DC does not continue, then members of the ANC will say those who have been subjected to the authority of the disciplinary process and discipline of the organisation, ‘why should I not be subjected to DC when actually it chooses people and all that, so the DC will continue,” Mbalula said.
ALSO READ: ANC postpones Zuma’s disciplinary hearing amid fears of violence
The ANC accused Zuma of contravening rule 25 of the party’s constitution by forming the uMkhonto weSizwe (MK) party in December last year.
According to the ANC constitution’s rule 25, Zuma’s actions to not campaign or vote for the ANC are tantamount to a breach of the party’s constitution.
The NEC initially opted not to expel the former president as an ANC member as that would require longer disciplinary processes, which at the time was believed he would not attend.
In December, Zuma announced that he would support the MK party for the 2024 general elections because the ANC had strayed from its core values.
ALSO READ: Zuma to address nation on ‘current political situation’
Download our app and read this and other great stories on the move. Available for Android and iOS.