Several ANC national executive committee members told Independent Newspapers that another motion of no confidence is on the cards against Zuma if he does not voluntarily leave the Union Buildings by the time the party’s top brass meet on Wednesday.
The ANC NEC will be meeting for the first time since Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa narrowly won the presidency of the ruling party last month, creating two centres of power.
Talks on Zuma’s fate started at the ANC conference and have now morphed into an elaborate plan to remove him in the wake of another damaging Constitutional Court finding that Parliament failed to hold him accountable on the Nkandla matter.
With Zuma facing impeachment from the highest office, it has emerged that Ramaphosa’s supporters want to test their strength in the NEC by tabling yet another motion of no confidence in Zuma, setting the stage for a titanic battle.
Independent Media spoke to at least five ANC NEC members who all confirmed that former tourism minister Darek Hanekom was preparing another motion against Zuma.
The embattled state president has already survived two motions of no confidence in the NEC - and eight in Parliament.
But since he stepped down as ANC president, and the loss of his preferred candidate Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma to take over the party reins, his critics are baying for his blood.
The president is facing calls to step down from inside the ANC and from its alliance partners, the SACP and Cosatu.
Hanekom told Independent Media he hoped Zuma would voluntarily leave before being pushed out.
Hanekom - who came under fire from NEC member and Communications Minister Mmamoloko Kubayi for using social media to attack Zuma - would not want to be drawn on the planned motion of no confidence.
Kubayi was opposed to public calls from ANC leaders for Zuma to be removed.
When contacted, Kubayi said: “Let’s leave it, I do not want to publicly talk about this matter."
An ANC NEC member from the Eastern Cape, the biggest province that supported Ramaphosa, said Zuma’s continued stay at the Union Buildings, amid the pending judicial commission of inquiry and a string of court battles he was engaged in, would deal a huge blow to the party’s electoral prospects in 2019.
“We have seen how the negativity of our national politics can impact on how people believe we as the ANC can capably run local spheres of government when we lost municipal elections last year, especially in Gauteng.
“Given everything that is happening, from the state capture inquiry and the rulings against the president, it will help our movement if we find a way to ensure that the image of the organisation is not overshadowed by these developments anymore,” the leader said.
A new NEC member said while any attempt to discuss Zuma’s departure would be met with opposition by those loyal to him, many members of leading structures were concerned that the president was creating problems for both the party and government.
“He has been at the centre of the controversies that have led to the ANC’s loss of support.
"So, any renewal in government affairs should be led by someone other than him.
"The new president (Ramaphosa) has been campaigning on the basis of rooting out corruption in government and dealing with those implicated in state capture, how can he lead that programme in government?” the leader asked.
SACP national spokesperson Alex Mashilo reiterated the party’s calls for Zuma’s removal, saying it was in his interest and that of the country to step down.
“We hope that the new leadership of the ANC has the best interests of the country at heart.
"They should be concerned about the problems that our country is facing and they must seek to address them,” he said. “We respect the independence of the elected leaders and we would not want to single out certain members and say they must act this way or vote this way. They are capable to make that decision,” Mashilo said.
But Zuma’s removal would not be easy since he enjoyed large support in the NEC, with ANC Women’s League president Bathabile Dlamini and ANC Youth League leader Collen Maine in his corner.
Political analyst Ralph Mathekga has warned that any hasty move to recall Zuma without trying to win over his backers first would likely backfire on Ramaphosa and his supporters.
“Even though Ramaphosa may be the president, neither side won at Nasrec, hence the mixed bag of the new NEC in terms of its composition.
"Whatever is being plotted by the usual suspects needs to be carefully planned, “ Mathekga said.
He said while Ramaphosa used anti-corruption as the basis for his presidential campaign, his failure to garner a decisive majority during the conference and the failure to ensure that those aligned to his project are dominating the NEC meant that he had to negotiate everything.
“That anti-corruption ticket did not win the conference, so he will not easily act on Zuma or anyone implicated. It goes without saying that every day that Zuma remains in power will further diminish prospects of the ANC in terms of winning in 2019.
"His supporters must realise that but that does not mean that they will be a pushover for Ramaphosa’s faction,” he said.