ANC to meet urgently to discuss Nkandla ruling

31 March 2016

Johannesburg - ANC officials will meet urgently to discuss the Constitutional Court's judgment that President Jacob Zuma violated the Constitution, the party's general secretary Gwede Mantashe said on Thursday.

"We will meet urgently as officials, have a discussion and out of that meeting we will be charting the way forward," he told reporters at the party's Luthuli House headquarters in Johannesburg.

Mantashe said the judgment would be sent through to the party's structures before a decision was made on how to deal with it.

Asked if the party still had confidence in Zuma, Mantashe said such a decision was not taken by any individual within the party, nor was it taken on a whim.

"I don't have the authority to declare a vote of no confidence in the president of the ANC. And I don't think you listen to a judge and you have a vote of no confidence in the president of the ANC on your feet."

The court found in a unanimous judgment that Zuma and the National Assembly failed to uphold the Constitution when they ignored the Public Protector's remedial action on the upgrades to his Nkandla homestead.

The court ordered Zuma to personally repay the money spent on non-security features to Nkandla. National Treasury had to determine the amount and report back to the court within 60 days. Zuma had 45 days after that to pay.

This article first appeared on News24, see here.