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ANC leaders put on a humble face today as the governing party tries to win back the confidence of society after President Jacob Zuma created a political and economic crisis when he fired Nhlanhla Nene and appointed little known MP Des van Rooyen as finance minister.
The media briefing at Luthuli House in Johannesburg had a modest tone compared to previous times when confident ANC leaders would quickly remind anyone who cared to listen that “unelected people” would not tell the party what to do.
Usually feisty and sometimes aggressive when journalists pose questions based on rumours, ANC deputy secretary general Jessie Duarte today meekly shook her head in disagreement when the ANC panel was asked whether or not Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa had threatened to resign in protest against Zuma’s decision last Wednesday.
“Ramaphosa is working with us. He has been with us since last week,” Duarte said.
But the ANC press conference disappointed many who had speculated that the party would announce the removal of Zuma from office.
Instead, the ANC praised him for being so bold as to change his mind. They said it showed that he listens to concerns by South Africans.
Duarte said the party convinced Zuma to change his Cabinet decision following extensive consultations with businesspeople, civil society and organised labour. She said the ANC did not underestimate the impact of the decision, particularly on the economy.
Subsequent to the consultation, Nene’s predecessor Pravin Gordhan was on Sunday night appointed back to the finance portfolio while Van Rooyen took over Gordhan’s cooperative governance and traditional affairs ministry.
is the enormity of that impact,” Duarte said.
“What is important is that the change has been made and action
taken to rectify what we think is a bloodbath in the economy.”
She added that the last week had been “a difficult period”. Duarte said she did not anticipate that Zuma’s actions would cost the ANC a “chunk” of votes in the upcoming municipal elections next year because the polls were largely determined by local issues.
Responding to the question on the three mass protests planned for tomorrow in a bid to demand that Zuma resign, Duarte said: “They have a right to march but we do not support their call at all.”
For a change, there was no mention of “counter revolutionaries” and “foreign agents” trying to overthrow the ANC.
