The ANC has taken a magnanimous stance to threats by Mosiuoa Lekota to form his own party, but Jacob Zuma made it clear that patience is wearing thin.
The ANC will continue to ”engage” with former defence minister Mosiuoa Lekota and other members who have grievances, the party said on Wednesday.
Former defence minister Mosiuoa Lekota on Wednesday served “divorce papers” on the African National Congress.
South Africa’s former defence minister, Mosiuoa Lekota, and other ANC officials are expected to announce the formation of a breakaway party.
Hundreds of ANC dissidents met for three hours in Cape Town on Saturday, but a spokesperson said they had not discussed the formation of a new party.
Former defence minister Mosiuoa Lekota is a dying horse aiming his last kicks at the ANC, the ANC Youth League (ANCYL) said on Friday.
Supporters of Thabo Mbeki, who want to start a new political party, hope to use outgoing Gauteng Premier Mbhazima Shilowa as the face of the party.
ANC members’ criticism of the party amounted to notice of their resignation, its national executive committee said on Thursday.
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/ 26 September 2008
Two of the ministers who resigned from Thabo Mbeki’s Cabinet this week spoke to the Mail & Guardian about why they resigned.
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/ 24 September 2008
The South African National Defence Union on Tuesday welcomed the resignation of Defence Minister Mosiuoa Lekota and labelled it ”good riddance”.
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/ 23 September 2008
Finance Minister Trevor Manuel is among 11 Cabinet ministers and three deputy ministers who have resigned.
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/ 15 September 2008
Cancellation of military satellite deal could result in a huge lawsuit in The Hague, write Stefaans Brümmer and Nic Dawes.
Fancy your own Boeing 707? The Defence Department has a couple to spare, no doubt going cheap.
Members of the South African National Defence Force Union on Friday called for Defence Minister Mosiuoa Lekota to step down.
Defence Minister Mosiuoa Lekota on Tuesday rejected claims that the South African Navy only had enough qualified crew to operate one of its new state-of-the-art submarines. ”I don’t know what the source of the information is that we can only operate one submarine … that is absolutely fallacious,” he told a media briefing at Parliament.
Xenophobic violence against foreign nationals has been brought under control, Safety and Security Minister Charles Nqakula said on Monday. ”I do believe the situation is under control … the violence has subsided,” he said at a briefing at the Union Buildings in Pretoria following an inter-governmental task team meeting with President Thabo Mbeki.
A union representing South African soldiers is to take the country’s armed forces to court on Thursday over alleged discrimination against HIV-infected personnel, the union said on Wednesday. The South African Security Forces’ Union accuses the South African National Defence Force of discriminating against HIV-infected people.
The African National Congress (ANC) has asked President Thabo Mbeki to appoint its deputy president to Parliament as a first step to getting him into the Cabinet, an ANC official said on Tuesday. ANC deputy president Kgalema Motlanthe, a left-leaning intellectual and ally of ANC leader Jacob Zuma, has been touted as a compromise presidential candidate.
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/ 25 January 2008
Investigations into the incident at the South African Army Combat Training Centre in Lohatla in which nine soldiers were killed have revealed that the tragedy was caused by a mechanical failure, Defence Minister Mosiuoa Lekota said on Friday. The nine soldiers died when a 35mm Oerlikon GDF MK-5 gun malfunctioned at the training centre on October 12 last year.
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/ 18 January 2008
Defence Minister Mosiuoa Lekota was on Friday sentenced to a R5Â 000 fine or 12 months’ imprisonment for reckless and negligent driving. Wearing a dark suit, glasses with gold frames and accompanied by his bodyguard, Lekota pleaded guilty to exceeding the national speed limit. Last Sunday Lekota was arrested for driving at 189km/h in a 120km/h zone.
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/ 17 January 2008
A row is brewing over a report on the military investigation into an incident last year in which nine soldiers were killed at Lohatla in the Northern Cape when an artillery gun apparently went haywire. The report has been completed but not made public.
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/ 16 January 2008
The South African Air Force has grounded its fleet of Pilatus Astra PC-7 MkII aircraft following the death of a pilot in a plane crash on Tuesday. The fleet would remain grounded until further notice, South African National Defence Force headquarters said on Wednesday.
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/ 15 January 2008
Defence Minister Mosiuoa Lekota has reportedly been arrested for speeding. The South African Broadcasting Corporation reported that Lekota was charged, at the Mondeor police station just before midnight on Sunday, with reckless and negligent driving.
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/ 10 January 2008
Kagiso Trust announced on Thursday the death of its chairperson, Yunus Mahomed. He was 57. He died on Sunday. Kgotso Schoeman, chief executive of Kagiso Trust, said: "Yunus, or YM as he was affectionately known, was a passionate and consistent leader."
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/ 28 December 2007
Former National Intelligence Agency boss Billy Masetlha, newly elected to the African National Congress national executive committee, says President Thabo Mbeki and his Cabinet will be ”recalled” from their government positions unless they ”account” to Luthuli House, Business Day reported on Friday.
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/ 19 December 2007
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The African National Congress’s 52nd national conference got down on Wednesday to the nitty-gritty work of the commission that discusses the party’s policies in an atmosphere that one delegate described as the ”cessation of hostilities” over its new president Jacob Zuma.
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/ 18 December 2007
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Jacob Zuma is the new president of the African National Congress. The announcement was greeted by an outpouring of joy and ecstatic cheering by ANC delegates at the party’s conference in Polokwane shortly before 9pm on Tuesday. Thabo Mbeki received 1 505 votes and Zuma received 2 329.
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/ 18 December 2007
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A third day of cool, rainy weather in Polokwane did little to quench the fiery support for the front-runners in the ANC presidential race: Thabo Mbeki and Jacob Zuma. Voting for the party’s top six officials started later than the scheduled time of 6am on Tuesday morning due to computer-related delays.
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/ 18 December 2007
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”Comrade Motlanthe, sabela uya-bizwa,”sang delegates at the conference on Sunday. ”Comrade Motlanthe, you are being called to service!” Kgalema Motlanthe has been portrayed by both camps as the indecisive, weak link in the ANC infighting.
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/ 18 December 2007
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Voters turned out in droves on Tuesday for the election of the leader of the African National Congress (ANC) president at the University of Limpopo. It was unclear whether voting had started, as journalists were barred from going anywhere near the voting station.
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/ 17 December 2007
<a href="http://www.mg.co.za/specialreport.aspx?area=ancconference_home"><img src="http://www.mg.co.za/ContentImages/327874/livefrompolo.gif" align=left border=0></a>African National Congress (ANC) heavyweight Tokyo Sexwale on Monday night declined his nomination to the position of national chairperson as the names of those in the running for the ruling party’s top six positions were announced. As predicted, Thabo Mbeki and Jacob Zuma go head to head in the contest for party president.
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/ 17 December 2007
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The African National Congress’s Polokwane conference may deal with nominations for the party’s presidency late on Monday, according to a senior party official. The nomination process is expected to result in a head-to-head clash for the top post between party president Thabo Mbeki and his deputy, Jacob Zuma.