Maravi

Mantashe advises Motlanthe to step down for Zuma next year

Mantashe advises Motlanthe to step down for Zuma next year
Written by Chibaula Silwamba in Johannesburg, South Africa
Tuesday, December 16, 2008 8:40:18 PM

SOUTH Africa's governing ANC secretary general Gwede Mantashe has said it is a mischief for people to suggest that President Kgalema Motlanthe should continue beyond next year when his caretaker presidency period ends.

In an interview, Mantashe said Jacob Zuma was president of the African National Congress (ANC) and therefore, would be the presidential candidate of the party and subsequently, elected president of the Republic of South Africa.

Asked about suggestions that President Motlanthe should be the presidential candidate for the ANC and continue as president of the Republic instead of Zuma, Mantashe responded: “No! That is mischief! That is mischief! The ANC elects leadership and our resolution is that the president of the ANC is the candidate for the presidency. So to say somebody else because he appears to be brilliant, we must have that man…it cannot be correct. Zuma is the leader of the ANC.”

Further asked what would happen if Zuma's corruption cases will still be active during elections period, Mantashe said the ANC leader's cases had ended but if they will be revived, then they would be handled when he is a sitting head of state.

“By the [time of] election,s he will not be in court, there are no charges against him. The case was thrown out by the Pietermaritzburg Court,” Mantashe said. “The National Prosecution Authority (NPA) is still trying to appeal. So obviously there will be no case by the time we go to the elections. If there will be a case, we may be dealing with the situation of a case against a sitting president which is a different matter all together.”

He also said the impact of the formation of a breakaway party called the Congress of the People (COPE) had not yet been assessed but expressed optimism that ANC would still win the elections.

“We will be able to tell after the elections next year. At this point in time it is all speculation but our own estimate is that the ANC will still win the elections with a good margin,” Mantashe said. “There is one province that troubles us, the Western Cape, actually from 1994 we never won that province out rightly. So we are hoping to do well. We will increase our majority.”

The ANC last week lost several seats in local government by-elections in Western Cape that were held following the defection of about 27 councillors to COPE. The ANC only retained four seats while COPE won two seats and the rest went to the main opposition, the Democratic Alliance (DA).

Labels: GWEDE MANTASHE, JACOB ZUMA, KGALEMA MOTLANTHE

posted by MrK @ 8:40 PM