Minister of Mineral Resources Gwede Mantashe. (Gallo)
ANC secretary general Gwede Mantashe said on Wednesday that members of the party would not vote against President Jacob Zuma in a motion of no confidence. He refused to say whether Zuma will be held to account for violating ANC policy.
Mantashe’s statements come after a two-day meeting of the ANC’s national working committee (NWC), which began on Monday and ended in the late hours of Tuesday night.
At a press briefing after the meeting, Mantashe said Zuma had violated the ANC’s own policy.
In 2007, at the party’s elective conference in Polokwane, the ANC resolved that a new member should be appointed to the Cabinet only after the party’s leadership had been consulted.
“The prerogative of the president, premiers and mayors to appoint and release members of Cabinet, executive councils and mayoral committees should be exercised after consultation with the leadership of the organisation,” the resolution states.
Mantashe said this consultation “is a principle of the organisation and not a favour”.
The ANC secretary general said that although Zuma had consulted the ANC’s senior ranks on former finance minister Pravin Gordhan’s removal, the president had surprised the party’s leadership when last Thursday’s reshuffle affected 14 other ministries.
ANC leaders had known since November 2016 that Gordhan would be fired and Mantashe said it was as a “function of consultation” that ANC MP Brian Molefe had not been his replacement.
When asked whether Zuma would face any consequences for breaking from ANC policy, Mantashe answered that the president had been reminded of the Polokwane resolutions.
He also said the NWC was satisfied with Zuma’s explanation that Gordhan had been fired because of a breakdown in their relationship.
The vote of full confidence
Opposition parties have united in a call for Parliament’s speaker, Baleka Mbete, to hold a vote of no confidence in Zuma. Mbete said she will begin consulting party leaders this week.
If the vote of no confidence is to succeed, ANC MPs, who are the majority in the National Assembly, would have to vote against Zuma. Mantashe is confident it won’t happen, saying “no ANC member” would vote against the president.
“Why do you all think the ANC is Father Christmas? We are members of the ANC in a political party system. We will not vote against the ANC,” he said.
Mantashe said Gordhan would not mobilise against the ANC because he is member of the party’s senior leadership – its national executive committee. He said it would be “unacceptable” if Gordhan, as an NEC member, protested against the ANC.
Gordhan has encouraged South Africans to mobilise against corruption in the party, saying “our country is not for sale”.
A letter from the ANC’s integrity commission asking Zuma to step down has been withdrawn. Zuma is set to meet the integrity commission on April 9 for further discussions. Mantashe said the commission has taken no resolution that Zuma should resign.