Former ANC Treasurer-General Dr Mathews Phosa has shared some intricate details regarding the events leading to Jacob Zuma’s recall as president in February 2018.
Phosa said Zuma was so aggrieved by the ANC’s decision to recall him that he wanted to challenge the vote of no confidence against him in court.
Phosa revealed the mooted court application in an interview with Newzroom Afrika on Thursday, discussing his book, Witness to Power, with host Aldrin Sampear.
The vote of no confidence route was taken after Zuma dug in and refused to heed the ANC national executive committee (NEC) instruction for him to resign and pave the way for the current President, Cyril Ramaphosa to take over.
Current Deputy President Paul Mashatile and the late MP Jackson Mthembu, who was the ANC’s parliamentary whip, led the charge to remove Zuma through a vote of no confidence.
This came after Ramaphosa was elected ANC president in December 2017, defeating NEC member Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, who was supported by the former president.
Phosa revealed that Zuma called him to a meeting to discuss the court case which was later abandoned.
“The NEC (ANC national executive committee) took a decision during the day that he must go and then, of course, they didn’t get a note from him. So, obviously the following day they were going to move a motion to remove him,” Phosa claimed.
“But he went to see these lawyers, and I won’t mention their names, I don’t want to honour them because they wrote bad court papers. They want to bring an application under section 98 of the constitution. That section is impeachment, you have to say Aldrin did A, B, C wrong.”
The ANC stalwart and former Mpumalanga premier further said Zuma had a change of heart the following day.
“So, I told him, these lawyers don’t know what they are doing. I even said could you call them so that we can debate these legal issues. He (Zuma) said no, no, no. no, Baba, let’s leave it. So, we left it,” Phosa said, adding that he told Zuma that the matter was not legal, but political.
Phosa also said he advised Zuma that the vote of no confidence would have constitutional implications on him as he was going to lose his lifetime salary and pension and that wouldn’t be good for his children as well.
“You need to find a way of saying I have served, I will go. He (Zuma) had many issues against the current president (Ramaphosa) which he says he betrayed him. I said, but what you should do in your press conference, ventilate those issues so the nation understand that you were also being wronged or you feel wronged, whether right or wrong, but it’s fair that he must be heard as well.”
Mzwanele Manyi, the spokesperson of the Jacob Zuma Foundation which handles Zuma’s communication, said the former president had more important things to worry about than wasting his time entertaining Phosa.
“H.E (His Excellency) President Zuma is hard at work building the MK Party to take over (the) government. He is not bored,” Manyi said when asked to respond to Phosa’s claims.
