Mantashe: Zuma's ANC presidency not up for discussion

Gwede Mantashe says the only thing that’ll be discussed this week is the ANC’s election performance.

African National Congress (ANC) members at the party's National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting in Irene, Tshwane. Picture: ‏@MYANC.

JOHANNESBURG – African National Congress (ANC) secretary general Gwede Mantashe says there will be no discussions on President Jacob Zuma’s position as leader of the party during their four day national executive committee meeting (NEC).

The gathering is being held in Centurion where over the next four days, NEC members will analyse the party’s performance in last week’s local elections. 

Mantashe says the only thing that will be discussed this week is the ANC’s election performance.

“We want to do a thorough analysis of the elections, but there is no item ‘president’.”

Included in the discussions will be the formation of coalitions in municipalities where the party has failed to secure a majority vote.

The Economic Freedom Fighters, which plays the role of kingmaker in key metros, has called for President Zuma to be removed from his position before it will consider any coalition talks with the ANC.

But Mantashe says such demands are issues that must be dealt with during negotiations – and not at this NEC meeting.

Meanwhile, as that meeting gets underway, the South African Communist Party (SACP) says it believes that some people did decide how they were going to vote in last week’s local elections based on how President Zuma and the ANC behaved around the Nkandla scandal.

The SACP’s Alex Mashilo says it’s clear Nkandla was a factor in what happened in these elections.

“Our contention is that, given that as an example, the inflation of the quotes for the development that were done at the house of the president as well as the costs thereof, ordinary people do care about what happened there.”

He also says voters have sent a strong message to the ANC and the tripartite alliance.

“The people have sent a strong message that we must take to heart: Do not marginalise us in your factional internal battles, and expect our support’.”

The communist party also says that one single provincial leadership cannot be singled out for the loss of support as the party lost votes across the country.