Watch: Mantashe explains ANC's decision not to remove Zuma
ANC Secretary-general Gwede Mantashe yesterday told a group of more than 400 supporters that the party “had its back against the wall” due to the backlash from the Constitutional Court ruling on the Nkandla saga.
Mantashe was addressing supporters in the Amathole region at the University of Fort Hare. The SG, who was supposed to address the region’s Cadres Forum at 11am, only got around to talking at 3pm.
The jovial crowd passed the time singing pro-president Jacob Zuma songs while waiting for him. Mantashe was first seen just after 1.30pm walking around campus greeting ANC supporters.
He was accompanied by national executive committee member Joe Phahla and the ANC’s Amathole region chairwoman and the region’s mayor Nomasikizi Konza.
About 10 minutes before 3pm, they eventually made their way to the sports complex where they were welcomed in song by the more than 400 supporters.
When he eventually took to the podium Mantashe instructed that the media be removed from the venue as the ANC branches needed “to talk freely about issues affecting the party”.
He first told his audience he was not happy about the decision to rename the merged Nkonkobe and Nxuba municipalities to the Raymond Mhlaba Municipality, saying he preferred it to be named after Chief Jongumsobomvu Maqoma who was instrumental in the seven wars of dispossession in the area.
He later told his audience that “the ANC had its back against the wall due to the backlash the party was getting concerning the recent Constitutional Court ruling on the Nkandla matter”.
Mantashe said in the wake of the court judgment the party was against recalling President Jacob Zuma from office.
He said after the recall of former president Thabo Mbeki by the ANC and the expulsion of Julius Malema from the party, “animals in the form of COPE and EFF, were born”.
He said he understood that by refusing to recall Zuma, the party was facing “a risk of trust deficiency”.
“We have learnt our lesson after the recall of president Mbeki and removal of Malema. We now therefore felt that we will be accelerating our decline if we went ahead and recalled the president,” he said.
He added: “We are saying to the branches they must be careful and weigh all the options before deciding on this Nkandla matter,” he said.