The African National Congress should not bow to calls from various forces, in the media and elsewhere, to abandon the principled position it has taken with respect to the charges brought against ANC deputy president Jacob Zuma, the party said in its weekly newsletter, ANC Today, on Friday.
It refers to an editorial piece in the Financial Mail that criticised the ANC’s support for Zuma in the week that Zuma appeared on corruption charges in the Durban Magistrate’s Court.
“Standards of right and wrong must be defined and upheld,” the Financial Mail wrote.
However, said the ANC, “it is evident from the article, entitled ‘Which ANC is really in charge here?’, that the Financial Mail editorial writers cannot be relied upon to define these standards of right and wrong, much less uphold them”.
“While declaring that any accused is innocent until proven guilty, the article is premised on an assumption that Jacob Zuma has already been found guilty. And, as such, the ANC should not be seen to be supporting him. The ANC begs to differ,” the party said.
The ANC supports Zuma “precisely because standards of right and wrong must be defined and upheld”, informed by the basic principle of natural justice that a person is innocent until found otherwise.
“Though often proclaimed — even in the Financial Mail article — this principle appears to be rarely appreciated. Until such a time as an accused has been found guilty of an offence, they should be considered innocent of the crime of which they have been accused. They cannot be considered mostly innocent, partially innocent, or barely innocent. They must be considered wholly innocent.”
The Financial Mail, though it claims adherence to this principle, doesn’t think so, said the ANC.
“The party in government is playing with fire. Its support for sacked deputy president Jacob Zuma ahead of his court appearance on corruption charges undermines the rule of law and kowtows to the mob as arbiter of right and wrong,” said the Financial Times editorial.
It is difficult to understand how support for a person presumed innocent can undermine the rule of law, said the ANC, particularly when that support is premised, among other things, on respect for the rule of law.
The editorial also suggests that by being present at the court, a number of ANC national executive committee members were supposedly kowtowing to “the mob as arbiter of right and wrong”.
“Apart from being deeply insulting to the thousands of people who turned out to express their support for the ANC deputy president, the Financial Mail is clearly unable to reconcile the demonstration of support for a comrade with the demonstration of respect for the due process of law,” said the ANC.
All ANC structures, members and supporters were called on to express their support for the ANC deputy president in a dignified manner, consistent with the values and principles of the ANC. On the day, that is precisely what the vast majority of members and supporters did, the party said.
“The ANC will continue to support its deputy president. It will continue to respect the rule of law and the institutions of state. It will continue to adhere to the values, practices and organisational discipline of the ANC. This, after all, is what the standards of right and wrong demand.”
Barney Mthombothi, editor of the Financial Mail, told the Mail & Guardian Online on Friday: “In the article, we are trying to find out which ANC is speaking. Is it the ANC that fired Zuma from government or the ANC that supports Zuma? That is really what we are asking.
“We don’t want to be all defensive about it; it is pretty touchy from them that they released this [Friday’s comment in ANC Today].
“Who is giving out this statement? Which ANC is saying this? It doesn’t make sense. The ANC should just answer these questions, because the people want to know where the ANC stands.”