ANC will not tear itself apart by firing Zuma – Mantashe

Johannesburg – ANC secretary general Gwede Mantashe says calls by opposition parties to have President Jacob Zuma removed are meant to ensure that the party tears itself apart, something that will not happen.

“Here is an issue that is disputed in society and is taken to the apex court as the final arbiter. The apex court makes a determination then immediately people call on the ANC to fire its president,” Mantashe told reporters in Johannesburg.

“My own view is [that] opposition parties are making the call knowingly; that it is a call for the ANC to tear itself apart. When I say that, I would imagine you would have seen our previous experience.”

He was referring to the aftermath of the ousting of former president Thabo Mbeki in 2008. Mantashe said the party would not do that. He said that was an antithesis to the foundation of unity that the ANC and the country were built on.

“Opposition parties are making that call knowing that it’s a call for the ANC to tear itself apart. It would be a sick organisation that will take action because the main opposition party or the EFF is calling for it,” he said.

“If it works that way, there is no party left. We are calling on all sectors of society that are unhappy to talk to us. But when we all shout in the media, we will never understand one  another,” he said.

Mantashe was addressing the media after President Jacob Zuma announced in a live television broadcast earlier on Friday evening that he was sorry about the manner in which the Nkandla saga was handled.

This article first appeared on News24 – see here.