Western forces behind anti-Zuma calls
Zuma won’t fall … ANC provincial secretary William Bulwane said party firmly behind President Jacob Zuma and his leadership team
… Says Free State ANC as it rejects early conference, and insists Msholozi will not fall
An early conference to choose new leaders for the ANC will be an administrative nightmare and politically detrimental to the ruling party, its Free State chapter has said, speaking for the first time on an idea proposed by the party’s youth league.
In a statement issued after a three-day leadership summit held in Bloemfontein this week, the Free State ANC repeated its rejection of calls for President Jacob Zuma to step down, saying the 74-year old leader will “not fall” but will remain at the helm of the party until the next elective conference due next year.
The ANC Youth League first made its call for an early conference days after the August municipal elections in which the ruling party emerged overall victor but put up a disappointing performance which saw it losing control of some key metros.
“An early conference will have negative administrative and political consequences for the ANC. We therefore do not agree with the call for an early conference,” the provincial ANC said in the statement issued by secretary William Bulwane.
On the incessant attacks against Zuma, Bulwane said the summit agreed that these were, in fact, not just intended to tarnish the image of the president but were meant to shake the people’s trust in the ANC and government he both leads.
“The summit agreed that the attacks on President Zuma are intended to reduce the confidence that the people have on the ANC, its government and South Africa at large,” said Bulwane.
The meeting, said Bulwane, concluded that the attacks on the president were the work of western forces hell bent on destabilising left-leaning governments, especially those of BRICS member countries.
“The summit agreed that calls for the president to fall are part of a global campaign of the west to destabilise left-leaning countries, especially those of the BRICS bloc of nations. The summit agreed that all structures of the ANC shall defend President Zuma and the entire leadership collective until they finish their term of office,” he said.
The secretary said the summit took note of the fact that there are some in the ANC itself calling for President Zuma to “fall’ but said the meeting had also rejected such calls on the basis that Msholozi was overwhelmingly elected to his position by the structures of the organisation in a democratic vote.
On the leadership succession issue, Bulwane said while the provincial party acknowledges alliance partners’ interest in matters to do with the election of leaders of the ANC, it was appealing to the partners to allow “ANC democratic processes to unfold”, and to also be cognisant of the fact that only members of the ruling party have the right to choose its leadership.
The Free State ANC also called on veterans of the movement to toe the line and respect both the leadership of the organisation and internal processes.
“Everybody must respect and operate within the guidelines of the ANC,” he said.
Furthermore, said Bulwane, the ANC in the Free State resolved during the summit to go back to basics in an effort to reclaim ground lost in the local government polls.
