ANC secretary-general Fikile Mbalula says it was the party’s intelligence recommendations that necessitated the postponement of former president Jacob Zuma’s disciplinary hearing.
The hearing was initially scheduled to take place at Luthuli House, the ANC headquarters in Johannesburg, on Tuesday.
Addressing a media briefing at Luthuli House on Sunday, Mbalula said the party has established that various organisations are planning to organise sit-ins and demonstrations outside its headquarters ahead of the elections on May 29.
He said the ANC is dealing with the matter legally.
For this reason, the party was advised against holding activities that would attract huge crowds and have the potential to ignite violence.
MKP cannot guarantee safety
The Umkhonto weSizwe Party (MKP) spokesperson, Nhlamulo Ndhlela, said recently that members of the new political party would descend on Luthuli House for Zuma’s hearing.
Ndhlela reportedly said that the party could not guarantee safety for its members or those of the ANC during its show of support for Zuma outside the ruling party’s headquarters.
Mbalula told the briefing that Zuma’s disciplinary hearing would still take place after the elections but did not mention the date.
He said it was necessary for the ANC to follow its constitution by inviting the former head of state to a disciplinary hearing, saying that even though Zuma is now the leader of the MK Party, he maintains that he remains a member of the ANC.
Zuma was served with a notice to appear before the party’s national disciplinary committee last week.
A political analyst said at the time that the governing party was playing to Zuma’s gallery, who, according to him, would get the sympathy he has been looking for ahead of the vote.
Zuma’s charge sheet
His charge sheet, on the main, includes two counts, respectively, that he is guilty of contraversing rule 25.17.17.4 of the party’s constitution, stating that he collaborated with another party.” according to the charge sheet.
“On December 16 2023, you addressed the Umkhonto weSizwe Party in Soweto, and you called on all South Africans to join you in dislodging the ANC as the ruling party,” the charge sheet reads.
“When you addressed the MKP in Soweto on or around December 16 2023, you declared your intention to vote for the MKP and actively canvassed for the MKP by calling on all South Africans to vote for the MKP.”
Count two found Zuma to be contravening rule 25.17.13 of the ANC constitution, meaning he should not have joined or supported a political organisation other than one that is in alliance with the ANC, “in a manner contrary to the aims, objectives and policy of the ANC”.
“You appeared on the list for public representatives of the Umkhonto weSizwe Party, contrary to the rule because the MKP is not an organisation that is in an alliance with the ANC.”
Zuma is number one on the election list of the breakaway MKP.
