SOUTH AFRICA: South Africans not surprised by African National Congress (ANC) decision to call on President Thabo Mbeki to resign

Record ID: 452223

  • Title: SOUTH AFRICA: South Africans not surprised by African National Congress (ANC) decision to call on President Thabo Mbeki to resign
  • Date: 21st September 2008
  • Summary: TRAFFIC AND NEWSPAPER ATTACHED TO LAMP POST WITH HEADLINE READING: "ANC ORDERS MBEKI TO RESIGN"
  • Embargoed: 6th October 2008 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: South Africa
  • Country: South Africa
  • Topics: Domestic Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVABLLHMJ6GTU1Y4J96YIC79LR32
  • Story Text: South Africans said on Saturday (September 20) that many of them were not surprised at a decision by the ruling African National Congress (ANC) to call on the country's president, Thabo Mbeki, to resign.
    The ANC's decision to remove Mbeki, who was favoured by investors for his pro-business policies, came after years of infighting sparked by his 2005 firing of then deputy president Jacob Zuma in a corruption scandal.
    Mbeki accepted the ruling ANC's request to stand down, his office said on Saturday.
    Last week a judge dismissed graft charges against Zuma and suggested there had been high-level political involvement in the case. The ruling spurred Zuma militants within the executive to demand Mbeki's head.

    "The decision has not come as a surprise. I think the country has, for quite some time, anticipated that at some point, this will happen. One hopes that this decision will not affect the government and its operations.
    There has been rumours that certain cabinet ministers loyal to Thabo Mbeki will also resign or will go down with him. One hopes that this is not going to occur. But as far as the country is concerned, I think people have been expecting that Thabo Mbeki will be sacked by the ANC," Johannesburg resident, Andile Ntingi, told Reuters Television.
    The resignation may raise political instability in Africa's economic powerhouse 14 years after its transition from the end of white minority rule, although a smooth process to replace him, and reassurances on policy, will ease fears.
    "Following the decision of the National Executive Committee of the African National Congress to recall President Thabo Mbeki, the president has obliged and will step down after all constitutional requirements have been met," the presidency said in a statement.
    The decision must be ratified by parliament, which should be a formality, given the ANC's two-thirds majority.
    Mbeki, who has ruled South Africa since taking over from Nelson Mandela in 1999, was due to leave office in 2009.
    He lost the leadership of the ANC to Zuma last year.
    Zuma, popular with leftists within the party and with its trade union and communist party allies, is the frontrunner to succeed Mbeki.
    It was unclear whether he would immediately step into the post. He would first have to be appointed to parliament and the cabinet.
    Deputy President Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka might have assumed the presidency but she has signalled she will resign with Mbeki.
    Cabinet ministers and the speaker of parliament follow in the succession line.
    It is generally expected that parliament, which is dominated by the ANC, will elect a new president within 30 days. Baleka Mbete, speaker of parliament and a Zuma loyalist, has been mentioned as the most likely one to lead the transition.
    Political analyst Dr. Siphamandla Zondi said the situation could have been handled better by Mbeki in recent weeks, possibly avoiding Saturday's outcome.
    "After the judgement by Judge Nicholson, the President could have chosen to deal with this matter politically, which is to consult with the ANC leadership, talk to them, make sure that whatever decision is taken, even if a decision is taken by the cabinet, has the backing of the entire ANC. The fact that we have a new leadership and it's going to come in seven months to come, I think he could have decided to use his prerogative to take a political decision on matters of this nature, in the same way that he took a political decision after the judgement on Shabir Schaik and decided to let President Zuma go," Zondi said.
    "It is sad that it has to end this way, but it is understandable that a political decision had to be made whether to keep President Mbeki and allow this process of tit-for-tat and using the court and all of those things, which might have overcrowded the process of electioneering, or take a political decision to say that there are other things that are bigger than these small tit-for-tat issues," he added.
    The ANC is expected to ask Mbeki's cabinet ministers, including Finance Minister Trevor Manuel -- who is widely respected by markets -- to remain in their positions in the transition period for the sake of stability.
    Manuel's office told Reuters he would not step down -- a decision that should calm some investors fears.
    Mbeki and Manuel have presided over the country's longest ever period of economic growth -- a decade.
    Mbeki's presidency ended after a heated debate within the ANC executive committee over his future in the wake of allegations he had meddled in the corruption case against Zuma.
    Trade unions and ANC members have accused Mbeki and his aides of plotting to smear Zuma and derail his hopes of succeeding Mbeki. The South African leader has consistently denied any involvement in the prosecution.
    The decision to oust Mbeki comes just a week after one of his greatest triumphs -- mediating a power-sharing deal in neighbour Zimbabwe that should end years of political and economic crisis.
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