Zuma’s status still a red herring for ruling party

THREE months after his suspension, the ANC is still playing “black mampatile” (hide and seek) in deciding whether former president Jacob Zuma is still a party member or not.

The ANC suspended Zuma in January after he announced in December, in Soweto, that he would campaign for the newly formed umkhonto wesizwe Party (MKP) in this year’s national and provincial elections.

“There was no need to expel him because his campaigning for another party means he expelled himself,” the ANC said at the time.

In his announcement, Zuma said he would remain an ANC member, while his vote would be in favour of the MKP.

He said his conscience would not allow him to vote for “the ANC of President Cyril Ramaphosa”.

ANC secretary-general Fikile Mbalula said the party had invoked Rule 25 of the ANC constitution to temporarily suspend Zuma.

He also warned that others whose conduct conflicted with their principles and values would find themselves out of the ANC.

ANC spokesperson Mahlengi Bhengu-motsiri told Newzroom Afrika this week that the Zuma matter was still being considered by disciplinary committee members.

“The disciplinary committee of the ANC has ceased with this matter. There’s basically nothing much to say about that. We have restated this point repeatedly,” she said.

This comes after IOL had sent questions to the ANC about the former president’s position but could not get a response.

Weighing in on the matter, political analyst Professor Sipho Seepe told IOL that the ANC should bite the bullet and expel Zuma because delaying the matter would work against the party as the road to the elections becomes increasingly difficult.

Meanwhile, the Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) has announced that Zuma’s face will appear on the ballot as a substitute for the MKP founder, Jabulani Khumalo.

Zuma is the number one candidate for his party. |