Talks loom on Zuma's next step

CAPE TOWN - African National Congress President Cyril Ramaphosa confirmed on Sunday that the ANC National Executive Committee are to hold talks on President Jacob Zuma's future.

"It will all come to an end. We know you want closure on this matter," Ramaphosa said while launching centenary celebrations in honor of late president Nelson Mandela at the Grand Parade in Cape Town.

Ramaphosa was speaking ahead of Monday's meeting of the NEC, the ANC's highest decision-making body, to continue discussions on Zuma's exit.

Ramaphosa hinted that the ANC was not successful in negotiating a graceful exit deal with Zuma and that the NEC meeting will recall him on Monday.

He stressed the importance of managing the discussions with purpose.

The interests of people must be put first, not the interests of individuals, said Ramaphosa.

"We must keep our eyes on what is in the interests of all our people," he said, to the applause of thousands of ANC supporters.

Ramaphosa also took the opportunity to stress the ANC's unity.

"The ANC comes from disunity and must now forge for unity," he said.

The Mandela centenary celebrations offer a new beginning for the ANC, said Ramaphosa.

To carry out Mandela's legacy, the ANC must fight corruption, Ramaphosa said.

He said 2018 will be the year of continuing Mandela's legacy of fighting corruption, and that those who are corrupt, and stealing from the poor, will be brought to justice.

"We have no other choice but to continue fighting corruption," Ramaphosa said. "That is what Nelson Mandela would have wanted."

"The centenary of the birth of Nelson Mandela gives us a great opportunity for renewal and rebuilding. As we remember this great leader, this year gives us an opportunity as we remember Mandela, to reaffirm our vision of a nonracial society, to build an SA for all our people," said Ramaphosa.

Litha Madita, 48, an NGO worker from Cape Town, welcomed the announcement of the NEC meeting, adding that Ramaphosa has spoken "to the aspirations of the South Africans".

"It brings hope that there is a new venture we are getting into. But we have to respect (Zuma) as a former president of the ANC. It is important not to disrupt the country or bring violence into the country," she said.

Zuma has not said in public whether he will step down voluntarily. His spokesman could not be reached for comment.

Zuma survived calls last year by some members of the NEC for him to quit. But analysts say this time around a bigger section of the party wants him out.

In 2008, shortly after taking the party's helm, Zuma engineered the ousting of Thabo Mbeki from the presidency.

Since Zuma became president in 2009, he has been dogged by scandal. He is fighting the reinstatement of 783 counts of corruption over a 30 billion-rand (now $2.5 billion) government arms deal arranged in the late 1990s when he was deputy president.

Some within the ANC and the opposition say the Gupta family, friends of Zuma, have used their links with the president to win state contracts and influence cabinet appointments. The Guptas and Zuma have denied any wrongdoing.

Inhua - Reuters - Afp