OPINION

ANC NWC summoned to Luthuli House

Strong indications that Jacob Zuma won't voluntarily step down as head of state

ANC NWC summoned to Luthuli House

5 February 2018

Pretoria - In the strongest indication yet that President Jacob Zuma won't voluntarily step down as head of state, the 20 members of the ANC's national working committee have been summoned to a special meeting on Monday afternoon.

This happened after a meeting between Zuma and the ANC's new top six leaders on Sunday night at the presidential guesthouse in Pretoria.

The NWC meets every second Monday and was only scheduled to meet again next Monday, February 12.

EFF leader Julius Malema tweeted after Sunday night's meeting: "He refused to resign and he told them to take a decision to remove him if they so wish to do so because he didn’t do anything wrong to the country. He’s arguing that he complied with all legal instructions including paying back the money, what more do they want from him."

The top ANC leaders entered Zuma's residence shortly before 20:00 and left around 22:00.

At last Monday's meeting of the NWC, the committee told the top six to ask Zuma to leave and asked for feedback after their meeting with Zuma.

Two different groups are also expected to march to Luthuli House on Monday, one calling for Zuma to be left alone and the other gathered to protect the ANC's headquarters. The Hands off Zuma protest is organised by Black First Land First (BLF) and other organisations, whilst the counter march is organised by a group claiming to made up of ANC members from across South Africa.

News24