Jacob Zuma will fight to be ANC member till his death, says Yengeni

Former president Jacob Zuma will die an ANC member and will fight the decision by the governing party to expel him from its ranks, his political ally, Tony Yengeni, said on Thursday.

The ANC’s national disciplinary committee (NDC) expelled Zuma from the party earlier this week after he contravened the ANC’s constitution by joining the rival MK party while still an ANC member. He was given 21 days to appeal against the NDC decision.

Yengeni‚ who represented Zuma in the NDC hearing‚ said the former president would fight the verdict.

“He did not indicate whether he will appeal‚ but he indicated to me this is not the end of the road for him," Yengeni said. “He will fight this matter — but by what form it will be determined by the outcomes of the consultations with the lawyers and my discussions with him when I meet him again‚ probably this weekend…. He is not a person who gives up easily.

“He has indicated many times he is an ANC member now‚ he will always be an ANC member and he will die an ANC member — that’s what he believes in.”

Zuma did not show up for his disciplinary hearing last week after it was postponed several times. He sent Yengeni to relay the message that he preferred a physical meeting. He also wanted the hearing to be open to the public. His request was rejected by the ANC.

“He’s willing to put up a big fight regarding this matter because our view is that the disciplinary committee [hearing] was not conducted in a fair manner. We were never given the right to a pre-hearing and they were imposing all sorts of things on us‚” Yengeni said.

“All the requests we made were denied‚ including our request for a physical hearing. We asked for a public hearing‚ like you would have in a court of law‚ where people go to court and there are all these cameras; it’s not something that is out of the ordinary.

“We think it was unfair for the ANC to keep insisting on having the hearing conducted through a virtual platform.… It’s different talking to somebody through a computer or phone than when you are in the same room; the atmosphere is different. There’s no emotional contact over a gadget and we think he deserved better. He served the ANC for far too long; they needed to treat him with a little bit more respect.”

Reuters