Mantashe rubbishes Malema claim that Ramaphosa asked Zuma to resign

1 April 2016

Durban – ANC Secretary General Gwede Mantashe has denied claims made by EFF leader Julius Malema that Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa asked President Jacob Zuma to resign, and that he had refused.

On Friday, Malema tweeted that the ANC would be convening a special NEC meeting next Saturday.

He also tweeted: "We are reliably told that the so called @MyANC officials asked Zuma to resign and he refused. Ramaphosa was the one leading the charge..."

Mantashe told News24 that this was not true.

"You know politicians are amenable to people who follow rumours. The NEC can’t have a NEC meeting that Malema knows about and I don’t know about.

"The President cannot be asked to resign without me knowing about it. If you are amenable to rumours, they will use you," said Mantashe.

According to a Sowetan report, Zuma dared the NEC to recall him if they wished to do so during the three-day NEC meeting in Irene, Gauteng, but the ANC denied this. 

This article first appeared on News24, see here.