Contradictory statements on Jacob Zuma 06 - 05 - 06

Contradictory statements on Jacob Zuma

The Congress of South African Trade Unions has noted the contradictory statements by leaders of the African National Congress over whether or not ANC Deputy President Jacob Zuma is to be summoned to account for statements made during his recent trial.

In the Sunday Times on 4 June, and later on Interface on SABC3, ANC National Chairperson, Mosiuoa Lekota, said that "the NEC has indicated that there are a number of issues and questions that they want Zuma to explain".

However in the Star on 5 June, ANC Secretary General, Kgalema Motlanthe, is quoted as being "adamant that this was untrue", and in the Sowetan on the same day, ANC spokesperson, Steyn Speed, says he also knows nothing about Zuma being summoned to explain his behaviour.

COSATU General Secretary, Zwelinzima Vavi, who met Kgalema Motlanthe in an alliance secretariat meeting on Thursday, confirmed that the SG did not report any process in respect of the Deputy President other than what is contained in the ANC NEC statement.

The manner in which the Sunday Times ran this story, based on countless faceless sources claiming to be members of the ANC NEC, represents a typical example of what the COSATU CEC raised two weeks ago. Some people, who clearly form part of a conspiracy, with a clear political agenda, use sections of the media to run a slander campaign against other members, or even other leaders, of the ANC.

The Sunday Times and many others have been engaged in such collaboration with these unnamed sources for many years. It is a type of behaviour that completely discredits the newspaper houses and undermines their independence. COSATU condemns all those faceless cowards as the people who, if we knew who they were, we could identify as the people driving our country into dictatorship.

The ANC NEC statement on 29 May 2006 insisted that there was no crisis within its ranks. Yet a few days later the National Chairperson makes a statement to millions of TV viewers which the Secretary General immediately refutes. This surely proves that there must be a serious crisis.