The tripartite alliance is to meet sooner rather than later to discuss President Thabo Mbeki’s proposed inquiry into an alleged plot against former deputy president Jacob Zuma, African National Congress spokesperson Smuts Ngonyama said on Monday.
But Ngonyama could not say when the meeting between the ANC, South African Communist Party and Congress of South African Trade Unions will take place.
Neither could he say when the alliance secretariat will next meet.
“We said [the proposal] will be discussed by the secretariat … sooner rather than later,” Ngonyama said.
Cosatu spokesperson Paul Notyhawa said the ANC, as leader of the alliance, has a political obligation to find a date and propose it to its partners, who can then consult their diaries to see if they are available.
Earlier, Notyhawa confirmed Mbeki’s proposed inquiry was not discussed at a tripartite alliance meeting last week.
“It was just proposed, not debated,” Notyhawa said.
Mbeki’s letter was only presented to the meeting late on Wednesday night. It was posted on the ANC’s website on Friday.
Notyhawa said the federation will discuss the proposal at a central executive committee meeting on Wednesday and brief the country on the matter at a press conference on Thursday.
At least one member of the alliance has so far rejected Mbeki’s proposal.
The Witness newspaper quoted SACP spokesperson Kaiser Mohau as saying: “We don’t need a commission of inquiry; the alliance can address such issues.
“This is a commission by the president for the president — what value would it have for us?
“He cannot just make these proposals. Not even the ANC knew about it. If he wanted to propose it, he should have done so at the alliance’s conference. But he didn’t even attend it.”
On Monday, Mohau said again the party is angry that the letter was posted on the ANC’s website.
“We don’t see why it was posted in the first place.”
Call for Mlambo-Ngcuka’s resignation
Meanwhile, the South African National Civics Organisation (Sanco) in KwaZulu-Natal warned on Monday that Deputy President Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka has only 29 more days left to resign from her position.
Reiterating its demand for her resignation and the reinstatement of Zuma as deputy president, Sanco’s provincial chairperson, Obed Shabangu, said: “It will be a mistake if comrade Mlambo-Ngcuka does not resign. It will be the biggest blunder of her life.”
However, he pointed out that the organisation has no plans to embark on mass action because “she is one of the very committed comrades in the movement and we have no doubt that she will adhere to our call”.
Shabangu said Sanco firmly supports a call by Cosatu for Zuma’s reinstatement and for his corruption charges to be dropped. It decided to take the issue one step further by giving Mlambo-Ngcuka a month in which to “clear the house to make way for Zuma”.
“This is a moral issue. If in her head she is with the people on the ground, she will adhere to our call because it is the call of the masses.”
Earlier this year, Zuma was sacked and charged with corruption after his close friend and ex-financial adviser Schabir Shaik was found guilty on two charges of fraud and one of corruption, all linked to Zuma.
Shabangu said Sanco also questions the finding of Judge Hillary Squires that Shaik and Zuma had a “generally corrupt relationship”.
“That case was about Shaik, not Zuma. How could he find Zuma guilty if he was not even in court?” asked Shabangu.
Little cash for Zuma
The vocal support enjoyed by Zuma still has to translate into cash, the Friends of Jacob Zuma Trust said on Monday.
“The wave of support has been unbelievable, but that has to be turned into cash. I am very excited by the support so far,” trust chairperson Don Mkhwanazi, a Durban businessman, said.
“It is still early days, you know, if you look at it, trustees only met Thursday to strategise how to campaign and raise funds. Different stakeholder groups must be dealt with in a medium conducive to them,” he explained.
News of the launch of the fund has also been overshadowed by calls for Zuma to be reinstated, for charges against him to be dropped and by the recent Scorpions raid on his homes.
The fund is waiting for the furore to die down so that an appeal for donations can be formally launched.
Asked how much cash has been raised since the fund was launched to help pay for Zuma’s upcoming corruption trial, Mkhwanazi said: “I’ve not been able to establish that.”
Mkhwanazi added the media have not been very helpful. Only one Sunday newspaper has published the details of the fund’s bank account.
There is also some teething trouble with the fund’s SMS service, but this has now been overcome. Zuma supporters can SMS the word “Zuma” to 36045 and each SMS will donate R5 to the trust.
With Mkhwanazi on the board of the trust are National Education, Health and Allied Workers’ Union general secretary Fikile Slovo Majola and South African Youth Council president Sizwe Shezi.
A website is being established to provide updates of funds collected, fund-raising events and the trial.
It will also allow the public to send messages of support to Zuma. — Sapa
The Zuma trust account is at First National Bank in Durban. The account number is 62087217818 and the branch code is 221426