President Thabo Mbeki has asked the secretary of Parliament to arrange for a joint sitting on Tuesday, his office said on Monday.
Spokesperson Bheki Khumalo said: ”The president will deal with issues arising from the judgement of Judge Hilary Squires.”
Last week, Squires convicted Durban businessman Schabir Shaik, who acted as financial advisor of Deputy President Jacob Zuma, of fraud and corruption.
Khumalo said on Monday afternoon: ”The paperwork is being finalised for the president to address a joint sitting.”
Zuma: ANC looks the other way
ANC spokesperson Smuts Ngonyama earlier on Monday said the position of Zuma is not on the agenda of a meeting that took place at ANC headquarters in Johannesburg.
”It’s an ordinary official meeting,” said Ngonyama of the weekly event that saw the party’s top six leaders gather in conference.
Mbeki, his deputy, Zuma, ANC chairperson Mosiuoa Lekota, party secretary general Kgalema Motlanthe, his deputy, Sankie Mthembi-Mahanyele and treasurer Mendi Msimang are said to be at the meeting.
There would be no statement made afterwards, Ngonyama said as the meeting went into a fourth hour at 2pm.
Sometimes meetings continued ”up until very late”, he said.
Ngonyama also said he did not have any idea what was on the agenda. He said that was decided by the leaders themselves.
However, he did say there would be ”no discussion on Zuma”.
President Street, outside Luthuli House, the ANC’s national head office, was blocked off to traffic for the duration of the meeting.
Security guards were milling around on the pavement outside, keeping a watchful eye on a handful of journalists.
‘It won’t be a problem’
The corruption cloud hanging over the head of Zuma should not pose a problem for Mbeki when he attends the G8 summit in Scotland next month, said Finance Minister Trevor Manuel.
Asked about the possible impact of the situation on Mbeki’s participation, given Africa’s stated commitment to eradicating corruption, Manuel told reporters in Pretoria: ”No, I don’t think it will [be a problem}”.
He was addressing a media conference on a decision taken on Saturday by the finance ministers of the G8 group of rich nations to write off all multi-lateral debt owed by 18 of the world’s poorest countries.
”One of the issues we must recognise is the independence and power of the judiciary,” Manuel said.
Issues of corruption also arose in developed countries like France and Canada, and were not considered a problem as long as there are systems to deal with them timeously, fiercely and independently, he said.
South Africa’s systems met all these criteria, he said.
The G8 summit is expected to focus on proposals of cutting African debt and doubling development aid.
Zuma’s financial adviser, Schabir Shaik, was sentenced to 15 years in jail by the Durban High Court last week after being convicted of fraud and corruption, involving improper financial dealings with the deputy president.
Judge Hilary Squires ruled that the men had a ”generally corrupt” relationship, and found Shaik guilty of soliciting a R500 000-a-year bribe for Zuma from French arms company Thomson-CSF in return for protection from a probe into South Africa’s multibillion-rand arms deal.
ANC Women’s League criticised
The United Democratic Movement’s Women’s League has criticised the ANC Women’s League for its show of support for Zuma over the weekend.
”Up to this point the ANC Women’s League had shown an admirable level of restraint in comparison with the reckless comments emanating from the other quarters in the Tripartite Alliance,” said president Daphne Qikane in a statement released on Monday.
Traditional backers such as the ANC Youth League have on numerous occasions voiced their support for Zuma and lambasted Squires’ background as a former Rhodesian Cabinet minister. Zuma has also been backed by the Congress of SA Trade Unions and the Young Communists and most recently the ANCWL.
Qikane said, however, her organisation was ”disappointed” by the ANCWL announcement.
”For many people this [their silence] was a sign of the political maturity in women’s politics. That credibility was destroyed by their ringing endorsement of Jacob Zuma over the weekend,” she said.
W Cape ANC: Zuma ‘was never found guilty’
Meanwhile, the newly elected Western Cape ANC executive said on Monday that it was necessary to be fair to Zuma.
”Our position as a province vis-a-vis the question of our deputy president, is that the deputy president has not appeared in any court of law. He has not been charged in any court of law.
”The ANC, through its own processes, might see how best to deal with that particular problem,” said James Ngculu, the new provincial chairperson.
Ngculu was speaking at a media briefing where the provincial executive committee members were introduced.
”Ourselves here, we are saying that the deputy president was never found guilty in any court of law, and therefore we don’t understand what should we pronounce as he has not appeared in any court of law.”
Ngculu said in the interests of fairness it could be ”injurious” to the character and integrity of Zuma to pronounce on the matter. – Sapa