National 18.3.2016 09:02 am
Ngwako Modjadji and Steven Tau
SACP 2nd General Secretary, Solly Mapaila (L) and SACP 1st Deputy General Secretary, Jeremy Cronin briefs media at University of Johannesburg, Soweto, 10 July 2015, on updates of Congress Rules and Alliance Summit Declaration to the SACP 3rd Special Congress which begun on the 7th - 11 July 2015. Picture: Nigel Sibanda
Party wants the ANC’s NEC to remove Zuma to avoid further crisis.
While scandal-hit President Jacob Zuma attempts to deflect attention away from his office, renewed calls for his removal as statesman are gaining impetus.
The SACP has called for his removal before the end of his term as ANC leader next year.
This comes as his allies within the ANC’s national executive committee (NEC) are said to have lost confidence in his leadership because of the powerful Gupta family’s reported influence over him and several of his ministers.
The SACP, which has been critical of the Guptas’ influence, want the ANC NEC meeting, which starts today, to remove Zuma to avoid plunging the country further into crisis.
In an interview with The Citizen in Johannesburg yesterday, SACP’s second deputy general secretary, Solly Mapaila, said the ANC should take action against Zuma for "crossing the line".
"If an ANC president can’t listen to the ANC, why should he lead the ANC?" Mapaila asked.
"The ANC NEC must discuss and resolve this matter. The ANC will have no choice but to ask him to step down as president.
"It is a personal thing to have relationship with this one and not that one. But in this case, the relationship is interfering in the body politics of the ANC."
Political analyst Elvis Masoga said the time had come for the ruling ANC to resurrect and embrace the bravery shown during 2008, when it recalled former President Thabo Mbeki.
"It is clear that these damaging revelations concerning the Guptas can drag the ANC into a political grave."
http://www.citizen.co.za/1039568/sacp-calls-for-zumas-head/
"The SACP has a query with this story, particularly on the issue of recall. What the Party's 2nd DGS Cde Solly Mapaila has said is that the ANC President must abide by the decisions, discipline and values of the ANC. Otherwise there will be problems that could lead to such a consideration in future but that is not the way to go now at this stage because there is still room to engage with the President."