/ 20 March 2009

Zuma case not discussed at NEC meeting

The African National Congress’s (ANC) leadership did not discuss the case against party president Jacob Zuma at a two-day national executive committee (NEC) meeting in Esselen Park, ANC secretary general Gwede Mantashe said on Friday.

”We didn’t discuss the Zuma case … it’s at a level … where we don’t require the NEC to even talk about it,” he said, briefing the media after the meeting in Kempton Park.

It was earlier reported that the party’s top brass would discuss a leak of information to various media on the National Prosecuting Authority’s plans to drop its case against Zuma.

Mantashe said the meeting, the last ahead of the April 22 elections, was held to assess the party’s ”state of readiness to govern”. The meeting discussed a white paper on the structure of the executive.

It thrashed out how to ensure that government worked effectively. Mantashe said the party was investing all its energy and time to ensure that it won elections in all the provinces, including the Western Cape.

He said the party had ”turned the most dangerous corner” in the hotly contested province.

Mantashe was confident that once the party ”engaged” with people in the province, they would return to the ANC. — Sapa