The African National Congress reaffirmed its confidence in former deputy president Jacob Zuma on Thursday, but the party’s national general council (NGC) meeting was instructed not to discuss his dismissal or charges against him.
”The confidence which members of the ANC have in his leadership remains undiminished,” secretary general Kgalema Motlanthe told the gathering at the University of Pretoria.
To murmurs of discontent, he said President Thabo Mbeki had asked the meeting not to discuss the issue arising from the controversy.
Discussions on Mbeki’s decision to dismiss Zuma, still the party’s deputy president, fell within the mandate of the national executive committee (NEC).
The matter of criminal charges against Zuma should also not be raised at the four-day Pretoria meeting, as the legal process had yet to take its course, Motlanthe said.
As to Zuma’s continued participation in the structures of the ANC, this was also an issue for the NEC, not the NGC, he said.
Zuma is to face criminal charges after Schabir Shaik, who acted as his financial adviser was convicted of corruption and fraud involving the deputy president.
Motlanthe said the ANC had been greatly pained by the events.
But it had been faced with daunting challenges before and had responded responsibly, rationally and humanely.
”I am confident that going on the characteristics of the movement, the ANC can meet the challenges and emerge stronger and more unified,” he said.
Motlanthe repeated the ANC’s support for the principle of a person being innocent until proven guilty.
He gave a detailed breakdown of events leading to and following Zuma’s dismissal as deputy president.
There was applause from the floor as Motlanthe read a statement from Zuma declaring he had been tried by the media and treated unfairly.
There were also murmurs of agreement to a statement by Zuma that he had convicted by the Durban High Court, which tried Shaik, in absentia.
Motlanthe said the issue presented the ANC with a challenge unlike any it had confronted before.
In tackling the matter, he said, the ANC had to be guided by the need to maintain unity, while also fulfilling its responsibility to provide leadership to society.
Some delegates wore T-shirts stating ”Innocent until proven guilty”.
Some chanted pro-Zuma slogans at the start of the proceedings.-Sapa