African National Congress Youth League (ANCYL) leader Julius Malema on Wednesday vowed to ”eliminate any force” blocking ANC president Jacob Zuma’s path to the presidency.
Speaking at an ANCYL 64th birthday celebration, he told the media that the ”Malema generation” would be responsible for making Zuma president of the country.
”Whatever the judgement … come 2009, Zuma will be president,” said Malema, referring to the Pietermaritzburg High Court ruling expected on Friday on whether Zuma’s corruption charges should be scrapped.
”Any force in our way we will eliminate. We are on a mission here. We will crush you. It doesn’t matter who you are, even if you are in the ANC,” Malema said to loud applause.
He expressed optimism that Zuma’s application to have graft charges dropped would be successful.
”We believe in that judge … he looked very sober to us … that’s why we are so convinced that we are going to get a positive judgement.”
Reject deal, urges Zille
Meanwhile, Democratic Alliance leader Helen Zille said on Wednesday that South African business should reject demands for a political settlement for Zuma.
”If it doesn’t, it will be complicit in condoning an abuse of power and undermining the Constitution,” she said.
She was reacting, at a business breakfast in Cape Town, to a call by Business Unity South Africa chief executive Jerry Vilakazi for a special ”political solution” to Zuma’s legal problems.
She said business was not exempt from ”our national priority” of defending the Constitution.
She also said reports that Zuma’s legal team was meeting with the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) in an attempt to have the charges dropped, so close to the Pietermaritzburg High Court’s expected ruling, were profoundly disturbing.
Dropping charges would create the perception that the NPA had capitulated to political pressure, setting a precedent that powerful politicians deserve special treatment.
”It is not beyond the realm of possibility that Zuma will pressurise the NPA to drop the charges against him in return for a guarantee that there will be no purge of NPA officials once he becomes state president,” she said.
A political solution would begin to unstitch the fabric of constitutional democracy.
”And a Constitution is not something that can be darned or patched or temporarily repaired,” she said.
Zuma faces charges of racketeering, corruption, money laundering and fraud related to the multibillion-rand arms deal.
Don’t test our patience
Also on on Wednesday, the Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) called on President Thabo Mbeki to reinstate Zuma as the deputy president of the country.
The call was in line with resolutions adopted at Cosatu’s central executive committee meeting, said Cosatu KwaZulu-Natal secretary Zet Luzipho.
He was speaking at a briefing in Durban as thousands of protesters demanded the withdrawal of criminal charges against Zuma, who is the party’s presidential candidate for elections in 2009.
Zuma is a beacon of hope to the people, said zuzipho, pledging Cosatu’s ”impeccable support”.
Referring to the court case, he said: ”The rich people in our society are using their influence over state institutions and the fourth estate to barricade Zuma from becoming the next state president.
”South Africa is being subjected to a very strenuous and traumatic process … and we just hope the judge will put this case to rest … but we can’t say if the National Prosecuting Authority [NPA] will come after him again.”
The only way to put an end to ”continuous demonstrations”, said Luzipho, is for the courts to ”put this case to rest”.
”We don’t want to see a situation where there are continuous demonstrations.
”Cosatu believes that the matter pertaining to Jacob Zuma is an economic matter … we will explore the possibility of embarking on an [indefinite] strike [on November 28 and 29] until the matter is brought to finality.
”Enough is enough,” he said.
The union also warned that protests have been ”peaceful” thus far but that people’s patience should not be tested.
‘Venomous hatred’
Luzipho also accused cartoonist Jonathan Shapiro, known for his work as Zapiro, of racism over his cartoon of Zuma in the Sunday Times.
”Racists like Zapiro and their venomous hatred for democracy continue to abuse the constitutionally enshrined freedom of expression.
”His cartoon is reminiscent of the apartheid ‘swart gevaar’ threat that was used by the ruling class …”
The cartoon depicts Zuma unbuckling his belt — his buttocks partially exposed — in front of a woman who is being held down by leaders of the ANC, the South African Communist Party (SACP), the ANC Youth League and Cosatu.
Gwede Mantashe, ANC secretary general, says: ‘Go for it, boss!â€
The woman in the cartoon represents the justice system, so identified by a banner across her body — implying that Zuma, together with the ANC and its alliance partners, is ”raping” the judicial system.
The paper had by Wednesday afternoon not yet received notice of legal action relating to the cartoon.
”We have not received anything. It’s just threats so far,” said editor Mondli Makhanya.
Meanwhile, Business Day cartoonist Brandan joined the fray on Wednesday with a sketch depicting Malema, Mantashe, South African Communist Party (SACP) secretary general Blade Nzimande and Cosatu secretary general Zwelinzima Vavi.
They were portrayed as pushing the head of a woman into a toilet bowl, their feet on her back.
On Monday, Star cartoonist Yalo drew her running away from a car with the licence plate ”Public Interest”.
The Press Ombudsman has received two complaints on the Zapiro cartoon, his office said. – Sapa