President Jacob Zuma may be removed as head of state after the December conference when a new leader of the ANC will be chosen, says secretary-general Gwede Mantashe.
Zuma has survived calls to resign from sections of the ANC in recent months following a string of corruption scandals, waning public support and economic instability caused by a Cabinet reshuffle in March.
Zuma can remain president until the election in 2019, but senior ANC sources opposed to him said they would push for his removal as head of state shortly after he stepped down as party leader in December.
The ANC’s top leadership, including Mantashe, have been critical of some Zuma decisions, but have not publicly backed proposals to remove him.
Addressing foreign journalists on Wednesday, Mantashe said the ANC was unable to remove Zuma now because of a resolution the party adopted in Polokwane that the president of the ANC should be the party’s presidential candidate.
Mantashe said it was easier to recall former president Thabo Mbeki in 2008 because he was no longer leader of the ANC. In Zuma’s case, this would be difficult as he was the incumbent.
"That is a very important milestone because beyond that point, many things are possible. What I am saying is that his term ends in 2019, but beyond December, the conversation becomes less complex."
Mantashe also labelled the calls for the next president of the party to be a woman as nothing but a campaign tool.
This was seen as a jibe at those campaigning for former AU Commission chairperson Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma on a female president ticket.
Mantashe has hinted before he may back Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa for the top job when he said a deputy leader had to be elected with succession in mind.
"We don’t have anything called a woman president in the ANC," he said. "We look for the president of the ANC — male or female — because if we elect a female, that female will not be a female president, but will be the president of the ANC.
"It’s as simple as that. The terminology that it must be a woman president is a manufacturing of terms that feeds campaigning. We need a president of the ANC; male or female."
Elements of the youth and women’s leagues support Dlamini-Zuma
With Reuters
Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.