The ANC earlier confirmed that the party’s National Disciplinary Committee resolved to expel Zuma after he was found guilty of prejudicing the integrity of the party by acting in collaboration with uMkhonto weSizwe party(MK).
The National Disciplinary Committee also upheld the suspension of the former ANC Provincial Treasurer in Mpumalanga, Mandla Msibi.
“The NDC finds that the charged member is guilty of contravening rule 25.17.17.4, read with subsection 2 for prejudicing the integrity or repute of the organisation by acting in collaboration with a registered political party to which the MK which is not in alliance with the ANC in a manner contrary to the aims, policies and objectives of the African National Congress.”
The 65-year-old relationship between the ANC Zuma has come to an end. The ANC’s expulsion of a leader who once held the highest position within the party has been a long time coming, severing ties that began in 1959.
Zuma’s association with the MK , a party named after the ANC’s former armed wing, shook the ANC both internally and at the May polls.
Secretary-General, Fikile Mbalula has attributed the ANC’s electoral decline to its former leader.
“You have impugned the integrity of the ANC. You have brought us below 50% and we are grappling with that now. All of those things have happened. We are dealing with the consequences of Zuma’s actions against the ANC,” says Mbalula
Mbalula says the ANC is pained to take the decision to expel Zuma, once a towering figure within the party. However, he maintains that the move is necessary to keep the party together and prevent further erosion of its support base. He says this is the same punishment that was meted out to former Secretary-General, Ace Magashule last year.
“We have never had a president like this. That is new. We never had a secretary-general like Magashule. It shows you that the roof is coming down where people at the highest level of the organisation can be subjected to DC and even expulsion from the party. We have never had that in history.”
The virtual disciplinary hearing took place last week without Zuma who insisted that he wanted it held physically.
Veteran ANC member Tony Yengeni briefly attended in his stead.
The MK has thrown its weight behind its leader which it says has been undermined by his longtime political home.
Spokesperson, Nhlamulo Ndlela says, “What president Zuma is doing here and people may not be seeing it, it’s not as it seems. What president Zuma did by forming MK, which liberated the ANC, he is saying, in not so many words, we need to liberate ourselves from this ANC like we did in 1960, from that ANC that was disbanded. Today, this ANC is synonymous with the disbanded apartheid ANC, because it’s bought by the same culprits. Apartheid and look at what happened. MK won back that country then by way of the bullet. This time around, it’s going to happen by way of the ballot.”
Zuma is allowed a maximum of 21 days to appeal the ruling of the NDC.
--SABC--
