South Africa’s president survives vote to oust him

President Jacob Zuma... Many ANC members have blamed Zuma's corruption scandals for the party's poor performance in local elections in August in which it lost the key municipalities of Johannesburg and Pretoria to the main opposition party, the Democratic Alliance. — President Jacob Zuma… Many ANC members have blamed Zuma’s corruption scandals for the party’s poor performance in local elections in August in which it lost the key municipalities of Johannesburg and Pretoria to the main opposition party, the Democratic Alliance.

JOHANNESBURG (AP) — President Jacob Zuma escaped a move to oust him as the leader of South Africa by senior members of his ruling party, it was announced Tuesday.

A motion to dismiss Zuma, 74, over a string of corruption allegations since he came to office in 2009 was introduced at a meeting of the National Executive Committee, or NEC, of the African National Congress in Pretoria on Saturday.

The majority of the ANC’s 80 executive committee members voted to keep Zuma in office, the party’s secretary general Gwede Mantashe told journalists in Johannesburg on Tuesday afternoon.

“Following honest, robust, candid and at times difficult discussion, the NEC did not support the call for the president to step down,” said Mantashe.

“All members of the NEC had the opportunity to raise in the meeting the issues they feel are hurting the movement and the country,” he said.

Fresh from his victory, Zuma left Tuesday for Cuba to attend the funeral of Fidel Castro.

Many ANC members have blamed Zuma’s corruption scandals for the party’s poor performance in local elections in August in which it lost the key municipalities of Johannesburg and Pretoria to the main opposition party, the Democratic Alliance. It was the worst performance for the ANC, once led by Nelson Mandela, since it won power at the end of apartheid in 1994.

Three weeks ago Zuma survived a no-confidence motion in Parliament that was raised by the Democratic Alliance after the state corruption watchdog issued a report which alleged that he may have abused his position to win state contracts for his friends, the wealthy Gupta family.

Zuma also faces the reinstatement of 783 corruption charges for an arms deal more than a decade ago. His term as the ANC’s leader expires in December 2017.

South Africa protesters torch schools in Limpopo province

South Africa has a long history of street protests

BBC | Protesters have burnt 13 schools in two areas in South Africa’s northern Limpopo province in a violent dispute over district boundaries, police say. Government officials appealed for an end to the violence, saying it affected the education of hundreds of children. Protesters say moves to include their neighbourhoods into a new municipality would delay efforts to get them better housing and water.

South Africa is due to hold key local government elections in August. Opposition parties hope to make gains at the polls, arguing that the governing African National Congress (ANC) has failed to improve basic services during its 22-year rule.

The ANC disputes this, saying most people have a far better standard of living since it took power at the end of minority rule in 1994.

Eight of the 13 schools were torched overnight, bringing to 13 the number of schools targeted since Monday, reports the BBC’s Pumza Fihlani from the main city Johannesburg.

The government says communities will be worse off by destroying buildings

On Friday, protesters failed in a court bid to prevent the inclusion of the mainly poor Vuwani and Livubu areas into a new district authority. The government says the plan is vital to developing the two communities.

South Africa has a history of violent demonstrations, going back to the days when people protested minority rule and it seems that this attitude still remains, our correspondent says.

People are often so frustrated about the lack of basic services like electricity and water that they resort to vandalism, targeting schools, libraries and even clinics, she adds. The government has often criticised the violence, saying it would leave communities worse off. Limpopo is one of South Africa’s poorest provinces, where the ANC has won previous elections by an overwhelming majority. The main opposition parties, the Democratic Alliance and Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF), hope to weaken the ANC’s hold in the province in the August elections.

South African court rules Zuma must face corruption charges

By Amogelang Mbatha and Paul Vecchiatto | Bloomberg

South African court ruled that the decision by prosecutors to drop a corruption case against President Jacob Zuma seven years ago was irrational and should be set aside, opening the way for the 783 charges against him to be reinstated.

Then acting National Director of Public Prosecutions Mokotedi Mpshe was under pressure and made an “irrational decision” to dismiss the charges in April 2009, ignoring the importance of his oath of office to act independently and without fear or favor, Judge Aubrey Ledwaba said at the North Gauteng High Court in Pretoria on Friday, citing the ruling by a full bench of judges. Zuma should face the charges in the indictment, he said.

“It’s not the sort of decision that’s going to be easy to overturn on appeal, because it seems to me, it is so well-reasoned,” James Grant, an attorney at the South African High Court, said by phone from Johannesburg. “It’s a very powerful judgment because its a unanimous decision by three judges saying that abuse of process is not something that the prosecution service may rely on.”

The ruling intensifies pressure on the governing African National Congress, which is fighting off increased calls from opposition parities, churches and civil-rights organizations to dismiss Zuma as the country prepares for local government elections on Aug. 3. The 74-year-old leader has been dogged by scandals even before he took office and now has to face an economy growing at the slowest pace since the 2009 recession and the risk of credit downgrade to junk.

“The ANC’s woes continue in the run up to the local government elections and they will have an even harder time managing their image after having decided not to recall him,” University of the Western Cape Head of Political Studies Cherrel Africa said by phone from Cape Town.

Last month, South Africa’s top court found that Zuma, had “failed to uphold, defend and respect the constitution” over his handling of a graft ombudsman report into security upgrades at his private rural residence, which found his family had unduly benefited from the improvements. That ruling followed in the wake of allegations that his friends, the Gupta family, offered senior Cabinet positions to members of the ANC. The Guptas have denied any wrongdoing and Zuma has referred questions to them, saying only he has the authority to appoint ministers.

Prosecutors had spent eight years investigating allegations that Zuma took 4.07 million rand ($287,000) in bribes from arms dealers, and had brought charges of fraud, corruption and racketeering against him. Mpshe decided to drop the case on grounds that taped phone calls indicated the chief prosecutor was using the case against Zuma to frustrate his efforts to win control of the ANC from Thabo Mbeki. Zuma, who was elected ANC president in 2007, became president of South Africa in May 2009 and won a second and final term in 2014.

The Democratic Alliance, the country’s largest opposition party, has been fighting ever since to have the charges reinstated.

“This finding by the court is an overwhelming victory for the rule of law,” DA leader Mmusi Maimane said in an e-mailed statement. “The National Prosecuting Authority must now immediately continue with the 783 charges of corruption so that President Zuma can finally have his day in court.”

The National Prosecuting Authority will study the judgment before deciding what action to take, spokesman Luvuyo Mfaku said by phone. Zuma has noted the decision and “will give consideration to the judgment and its consequences and the remedies available in terms of our law,” the presidency said in an e-mailed statement.

“The court did not deal with the merits of any allegations against President Zuma nor did it make any finding declaring guilt on any matter,” the ANC said. “Today’s judgment was solely a judicial review of an administrative action taken by the NPA as allowed for in our law. This matter has dragged on for close to a decade and the ANC is pleased therefore that it now appears closer to resolution.”

Criticism of Zuma’s government has intensified since December, when his decision to replace his respected finance minister, Nhlanhla Nene, with a little-known lawmaker sparked a selloff of the rand and the nation’s bonds. A special South African police unit, known as the Hawks, is investigating corruption allegations against the Gupta family, who are in business with Zuma’s son, and probing whether the Guptas have any influence on government business.

“President Zuma has jokingly said that he looks forward to his day in court to answer those charges. Well now that day is getting closer,” Bantu Holomisa, leader of minor opposition party, the United Democratic Movement, said by phone from Mthatha. “The ANC will have to seriously consider what it will mean to the country or to their party to have a sitting president in court answering charges and thereby taking his attention away from running the country.”

South African Parliament to Debate Impeaching President Zuma

South Africa’s parliament will open debate Tuesday on an opposition motion to impeach President Jacob Zuma for violating the constitution.

The Constitutional Court ruled last week that Zuma “failed to uphold, defend, and respect the constitution” by failing to pay back some of the public funds he used to make improvements on his private home.

More than $20 million in remodeling included adding a swimming poll, an amphitheater and a fenced-in area for cattle.

The federal anti-corruption office ordered Zuma to repay the money spent on renovations unrelated to security.

Zuma said in a televised address to the nation last week that he “never knowingly or deliberately set out to violate the constitution, which is the supreme law of the republic.”

He made no mention of the scandal during a rally Sunday to announce aid for drought-stricken areas.

Zuma’s ruling African National Congress dominates parliament and any effort to impeach him will likely fail.

Previous efforts to impeach Zuma or force him from office were also voted down.

How South Africa’s constitutional court put Zuma in his place

BY GARETH NEWHAM | Newsweek/

Jacob Zuma's homestead Nkandla in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, January 21, 2014. South Africa's highest court has ruled that Zuma should pay back some of the state money spent upgrading his home. MARCO LONGARI/AFP/GETTY IMAGES — Jacob Zuma’s homestead Nkandla in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, January 21, 2014. South Africa’s highest court has ruled that Zuma should pay back some of the state money spent upgrading his home.
MARCO LONGARI/AFP/GETTY IMAGES

“The President failed to uphold, defend and respect the Constitution.” With those words, Chief Justice Mogoeng Thomas Reetsang Mogoeng of the South Africa Constitutional Court finally ruled on the biggest of many presidential scandals since Jacob Zuma came to power in 2009.

The court ruling related to the failure of Zuma to adhere to the findings of the public protector, Advocate Thuli Madonsela, that he breached his ethical responsibility with regards to the excessive expenditure of public money on his private homestead in Nkandla and should repay a portion of it. An amount of 246 million rand ($23 million at the time) was used to enhance security and upgrade Zuma’s residence—which including the installation of a swimming pool and ampitheater—resulted in it becoming one of the most expensive homes in a country where more than half the population lives on 779 rand ($53) per month.

The roots of the saga started in 1999, when Zuma was appointed as deputy president of South Africa. Soon after, he began developing his rural estate near Nkandla in northern KwaZulu Natal, a province on South Africa’s east coast. His financial advisor at the time, Schabir Shaik, assisted with the financing of the project. Shaik was eventually convicted of being in a corrupt relationship with Zuma and sentenced to 15 years imprisonment in 2005.

Fortunately for Zuma, the political winds were changing at the time. Then-President Thabo Mbeki, who was increasingly seen as intolerant and aloof, had become unpopular within the African National Congress (ANC) and its alliance partners South African Communist Party (SACP) and the Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU). Fired by Mbeki and facing corruption charges himself, Zuma had little option but to go for broke and challenge Mbeki for presidency of the ANC. He partly achieved this by presenting himself as a “people’s president” and building support from ANC structures such as the Youth League and other political leaders whom Mbeki had alienated.

This strategy succeeded, and he was elected as the ANC president at the party’s five-yearly National Conference in 2007. Shortly before the 2009 national elections, the then-acting head of the National Prosecuting Authority Mokotedi Mpshe withdrew the 783 criminal charges of corruption, fraud, money laundering and racketeering facing Zuma. Following the ANC’s election win in 2009, Zuma became the president of South Africa.

Zuma quickly used his presidential authority to consolidate his power across the party and the state. He appointed people he believed would owe him allegiance to powerful positions in security and other key state agencies. In this way he was able to dispense patronage to loyalists and target people he perceived as enemies.

Recently, however, Zuma has come under increasing pressure. Various senior ANC party members have publicly alleged that the Guptas—a wealthy business family that are Zuma’s personal friends and benefactors to a number of his immediate family members—have been able to influence presidential decisions, including the appointment of cabinet ministers. This resulted in senior ANC stalwarts calling for Zuma to step down.

Zuma’s term of office as president is due to end in 2019. However, this Constitutional Court ruling has provided fresh impetus to growing calls for Zuma to either step down or be removed by the ANC much earlier. The problem facing the country is that Zuma is still very powerful within the ANC. Despite the court’s ruling, key structures such as the ANC Youth league and Women’s Leaguequickly released public statements after the Constitutional Court ruling expressing their full support for him.

If Zuma threatens to fight against any internal attempts to remove him, it is likely to result in deepening the already severe divisions within the ANC and its alliance partners. Given that highly-contested local government elections will take place later this year, there is unlikely to be the stomach for this type of fight. Moreover, Zuma is in a tight spot. A court ruling on rationality of the withdrawal of the criminal charges against him in 2009 will be out later in 2016, and if he loses they could be reinstated. There is far too much at stake for Zuma, a man who has consistently put his personal interests ahead of his party and the ANC, to leave power prematurely.

It is likely that the ANC will try and manage this internally to prevent additional damage to the party. It will most likely be the outcome of the 2016 local government elections that will determine Zuma’s fate. If the ANC loses substantial support, Zuma’s exit is likely to happen in the relatively near future. If the ANC manages to retain their substantial majority, Zuma is likely to stay until the end of his term of office. Whatever the outcome, South Africa’s Constitutional Court has reaffirmed its supremacy over a rapacious political elite.

Gareth Newham is the head of the Governance, Crime and Justice Division at the Institute for Security Studies (ISS), an African security thinktank based in Pretoria. The ISS tweets @issafrica.

South Africa’s Guptas hit back in Zuma finance minister row

The wealthy South African family accused of wielding undue influence through its links to President Jacob Zuma says it has been the victim of “xenophobic and hate speech”.

The family took out two pages in a newspaper it owns to deny the allegations and respond to criticism.

President Zuma's son (right) works for a company owned by the Gupta family — President Zuma’s son (right) works for a company owned by the Gupta family

Deputy Finance Minister Mcebesi Jonas has said that he was offered the top job by a member of the Gupta family.

This has led to increasing pressure on President Zuma.

“As the global economic slowdown began to bite, the family became the scapegoat for every calamity and misfortune that South Africa has faced,” the Guptas said in a statement, carried in the local New Age newspaper.

The office of the country’s anti-corruption watchdog, known as the Public Protector, has said it is considering whether to investigate the involvement of the Gupta family in state affairs.

Questioned by the opposition in parliament on Thursday about Mr Jonas’ allegation, Mr Zuma said: “I’m in charge of the government. There is no minister who was ever appointed by the Guptas.”

The Zumas and the Guptas – the ‘Zuptas’

Bongi Ngema-Zuma, one of the president’s wives, used to work for the Gupta-controlled JIC Mining Services as a communications officer.

Duduzile Zuma, his daughter, was a director at Sahara Computers.

Duduzane Zuma, a son, is a director in some Gupta-owned companies.

Mr Zuma’s presidency has been marred by allegations of corruption, cronyism and incompetence, amid a worsening economic situation.

Last year, South Africa was hit by a wave of xenophobic violence against African migrants.

A senior governing party official warned on Thursday that the country risked turning into a “mafia state”.

Gwede Mantashe is the third most powerful person in the governing African National Congress (ANC), and his remarks suggest Mr Zuma may be losing the confidence of influential members of the party as well, correspondents say.

Senior ANC officials are meeting this weekend and they may examine Mr Zuma’s relationship with the Guptas.

The Guptas, who arrived in South Africa from India in 1993, have huge interests in computers, air travel, energy, and technology.

In 2013, there was an outcry after a private jet carrying guests to the wedding of a Gupta family member was allowed to land at a South African military air force base in Pretoria.

The Zumas and the Guptas – the ‘Zuptas’

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