NEC meeting cancelled after 'constructive discussion' between Zuma, Ramaphosa
Cape Town - The ANC has confirmed that the planned national executive committee (NEC) meeting has been cancelled after a "constructive discussion" between President Jacob Zuma and Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa in Cape Town on Tuesday.
ANC deputy secretary general Jessie Duarte told News24 that the two agreed to work together. "Ramaphosa sounds extremely happy," she added.
The ANC's top six met with Zuma over the weekend in an unsuccessful bid to persuade him to resign, after which the top six met with the party's national working committee (NWC) on Monday evening. The NWC then convened an urgent meeting of the NEC for Wednesday evening in Cape Town.
The NEC is the body that can recall the state president.
The special NEC will now sit on 17 and 18 February, the ANC said in a statement on Tuesday night. News24
Update:
ANC won't disappoint – Magashule reassures anxious South Africans on Zuma's fate
Johannesburg – There is no need for South Africans to be anxious over the fate of President Jacob Zuma, ANC secretary-general Ace Magashule said.
He spoke to News24 on Tuesday evening after ANC's announcement that the much-anticipated national executive committee (NEC) meeting, scheduled for Wednesday, had been postponed. The aim of the meeting was to discuss Zuma's fate as head of state.
The party announced that the decision was taken following "fruitful and constructive" engagements between Zuma and ANC president Cyril Ramaphosa.
Magashule said the two leaders wanted an opportunity to continue their talks.
Ramaphosa and Zuma's meeting was held following the decision by Parliament's presiding officers to postpone the State of the Nation Address that was scheduled for Thursday.
"I am definitely confident that the ANC will do the right thing not to disappoint South Africa," said Magashule. He added that the 106-year-old liberation movement would act responsibly to renew and unite itself.
Report expected from Ramaphosa
On Monday, a decision was taken by the party's national working committee to hold the special NEC to discuss Zuma's recall.
This was after Zuma refused to resign when asked to do so by the party's top six officials.
"South Africans must not worry, the ANC will find its own solutions to the challenges facing the country and the ANC," said Magashule.
He told News24 that he had later joined the meeting between Ramaphosa and Zuma.
However, he would not divulge the details of the two leaders' engagement.
Magashule said he expected Ramaphosa to give a report to the NEC on his talks with Zuma.
The NEC is ANC's highest decision-making body in between conferences.
"The president [Ramaphosa] might actually give us a report on his meeting with President Zuma, the constructive meeting... the fruitful meeting," he concluded.
The NEC meeting will now be held on February 17 and 18, dates on which an NEC meeting had already been scheduled.
