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From denial to anger and then bargaining, the ANC has gone through the motions during the saga around President Jacob Zuma’s recall.
Phelokazi Mbude looks at recent events and how the ANC changed its tune on Zuma, who has finally tendered his resignation after refusing to step down for months.
Denial
With various media reports on the fate of Zuma as the president of the country, the ANC was quick to speak against inaccuracies. Or maybe it was a defence mechanism against the fact that Zuma had no intention of relinquishing his position.
The ANC said it was “distancing itself from fake statements” when speaking out against news circulating on various media platforms, including social media.
“All official communication from the ANC to the media is issued via the ANC media list. Any other correspondence not emanating from this platform should be viewed with circumspect and clarity in such instances should be sought from the comrades mandated to speak on behalf of the ANC,” said the party in a statement.
Anger
As the tensions were building and uncertainty about the state of the nation address was rising, groups for and against Zuma marched to the ANC headquarters at Luthuli House on February 5, three days before the state of the nation address was supposed to happen. Some protesters called for Zuma to step down while others defended him.
After violence broke out at these marches where one of the aggressors was said to be an ANC leader, the party made it a point to respond.
“The ANC calls upon on law-enforcement agencies to act without fear or favour to bring the perpetrators to book. Should these perpetrator[s] be found to be members of the ANC, the relevant structures must without any delay, institute disciplinary proceedings against them,” said the party.
With the conflict outside Luthuli House taking place there seemed to be a different kind of conflict within the ANC leadership structure itself, which resulted in an impasse regarding the country’s president and whether or not he would step down.
Zuma still had not voluntarily resigned.
Bargaining
At this point the country knew the ANC was having difficulty convincing Zuma to step down, the party was vulnerable.
Reports revealed that president Zuma refused to resign immediately and requested a few months in office before he tendered his resignation.
In the midst of a number of speculations circulating, ANC president Cyril Ramaphosa saw it fit to speak out about his engagements with Zuma. This could have been a means to appease the public, maybe to convince us that things were under control.
“This is a challenging time for our country. Both President Zuma and myself are aware that our people want and deserve closure. The constructive process we have embarked on offers the greatest opportunity to conclude this matter without discord or division,” said Ramaphosa.
Depression, reflection
Following the scuffles outside their headquarters, the ANC released a statement about a national working committee meeting which was called to discuss engagements between the party’s national executive committee (NEC) and Zuma.
“Among the issues to be tabled to the special NEC meeting will be preparations for the state of the nation address and a report back from the national working committee on matters mandated to it, including management of the transition between the fifth and sixth administration of government and pending actions in Parliament.”
Zuma approached the National Assembly and asked for Sona to be postponed.
The long and short of it? Postponed was the word of the day. The state of the nation address was postponed – indefinitely, as requested by the president – and the special NEC meeting was postponed as well.
In the seeming deadlock within the party, the ANC responded to the Sona postponement with: “We understand that this decision was arrived at based on a shared understanding that there is a need to deliver this important address in a conducive political environment.”
The upward turn
The ANC eventually conceded to recall their “deployee”. City Press reported that the ANC planned to remove Zuma from office in an NEC meeting.
ANC treasurer-general Paul Mashatile was heard in a leaked recording of his talk at the African Mining Indaba saying that the ANC top-six members were planning to remove Zuma if he was not willing to leave office voluntarily.
ANC chairperson Gwede Mantashe also spoke publicly and said: “We said he must resign on his own because he is a member of the ANC and we respect him and he is not an enemy of the organisation. But when he refused to resign we decided to apply a rule in the ANC constitution that says the organisation has the authority to deploy you and to recall you.”
Reconstruction and action
On Wednesday morning, South Africans woke up to reports of the Hawks clamping down on individuals who have been associated with Zuma and alleged corruption.
The Hawks raided the Gupta family’s Saxonwold compound, which was followed by the arrest of former Free State agriculture head, Peter Thabethe, the questioning of at least one of the Gupta brothers and a search for Zuma’s son, Duduzane.
And then, finally, on Wednesday night Zuma addressed the nation and announced that he was resigning with immediate effect.
Zuma pointed to the violence that had taken place at the ANC’s headquarters at Luthuli House when his supporters clashed with those who wanted him out.
“I have therefore come to the decision to resign as president of the Republic with immediate effect,” Zuma said.
On Thursday, Ramaphosa was sworn in as South Africa's fifth president since democracy.
He will deliver the state of the nation address on Friday evening, which will be followed by the Sona debate on Monday, the president’s response on Tuesday and the budget speech on Wednesday.
And after all the highs and lows the ANC is able to continue on its trajectory with the success of removing yet another president before finishing his term.
