THE ANC has taken a final decision that President Jacob Zuma will be the face of its campaign and return for a second term.
According to an article in the Mail and Guardian, the party has been rattled by information that, in KwaZulu-Natal, regional leaders had planned to approach him and ask him not to stand for a second term in the presidency.
The article also suggested that the Nkandla scandal, in which R206-million was spent on Zuma’s private home, is said to have made him deeply unpopular.
According to the Mail and Guardian, concerns over some KwaZulu-Natal regional leaders’ manoeuvring has, however, reached the upper echelons of the party and were raised by ANC Free State chairman, Ace Magashule, at the national executive committee (NEC) meeting in Nelspruit.
A party insider told the Mail and Guardian that regional leaders are torn: they do not want to be seen as blind loyalists who did not act when the interests of the party were at stake, but feared marginalisation for pursuing a motion that would not enjoy popular support.
The Lower South Coast was said to be among the regions suspected of supporting the idea of dumping Zuma. However, the Lower South Coast ANC spokesman Sipho Dlamalala refuted these allegations.
“I can assure everyone that there was no meeting which suggested removing Jacob Zuma as the ANC president and that of the country,” said Dlamalala.
“As the ruling party we are concerned about the bias of the media during this crucial time when parties are busy campaigning for elections. We have not forgotten that, recently, another rumour was peddled by media houses, claiming that leaders of the ANC in this region were blocking branches from nominating Jacob Zuma as party leader,” he said.
“We would like to assure all members and supporters that, as the leaders of the ANC in this region, we stand by our decision, which was endorsed at the conference in Mangaung, that Jacob Zuma is our president. As loyal and disciplined servants of the people, we stand by the Mangaung conference resolution,” he said.
