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Johannesburg — President Jacob Zuma is fighting for political survival after another motion of no confidence was tabled against him at a meeting of the ANC’s national executive committee (NEC) in Pretoria.

At least four sources with direct knowledge of events inside the closed NEC meeting confirmed to News24 that African National Congress policy guru and NEC member Joel Netshitenzhe tabled a motion for Zuma to step down.

Health Minister Aaron Motsoaledi, his deputy Joe Phaahla and axed tourism minister Derek Hanekom spoke out in support of Netshitenzhe’s motion.

An inside source said Netshitenzhe argued that the case against Zuma had “worsened” since Hanekom’s call in November 2016 for him to go.

“He mentioned all the things we read about in the news: The Cabinet reshuffle, the downgrade [to junk status], the reports on state capture . . . the litany of problems all linked to him [Zuma].”

Netshitenzhe is a former head of the government’s communications department, the GCIS.

The meeting which adjourned on Saturday early evening was expected to continue yesterday.

Netshitenzhe’s motion came in spite of ANC secretary general Gwede Mantashe telling journalists earlier that the motion was not on the agenda.

According to sources, there are long lists of speakers for and against the motion. In November, a similar motion put forward by Hanekom at the NEC failed. He was supported by several Cabinet ministers.

Those who want Zuma to go fear the party is losing credibility by the many scandals linked to the president.

Zuma’s supporters who have always dominated the NEC have argued the structure does not have constitutional powers to recall Zuma. They have also added that the power is vested in the branches which elected him to the position.

Former president Thabo Mbeki was recalled by the ANC NEC as state president in 2008 after the KwaZulu-Natal High Court ruled he had interfered in the prosecution of Zuma on charges of corruption. The judgment was later overruled by the Supreme Court of Appeal.

The ANC’s alliance partners have previously supported the motion for Zuma’s removal, citing that it would be dangerous for the ANC to keep him on as president ahead of the policy conference which takes place at the end of June.

An NEC member said it would be irresponsible for the party not to discuss Zuma’s recall, while the SACP’s deputy general secretary Solly Mapaila urged the party to deal with the matter or accept the demise of the 105 year old liberation movement.

Meanwhile, women empowerment and radical economic transformation are at the heart of Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma’s campaign to be the next ANC president.

This was clear during Dlamini-Zuma’s four-day Eastern Cape crusade this week, in which she addressed everyone from students and women to cadre’s forums and funeral directors — arguing that everyone benefited from female leaders.

“Oliver Tambo said no country can boast of being free unless its women are free; and freeing women does not mean oppressing men. No. It doesn’t mean that,” she said.

“Actually, when women are free, men will have a better time than they are having now because women take care of everybody. If women have resources, they spend their resources on all of us: men and women. So, it’s our right. But, it’s also smart to do that,” she said to loud applause at a cadre’s forum in Sterkspruit on Thursday afternoon.

“Even companies have started to put women in leadership positions because there is research that shows that companies that have women in senior positions do better. They bring better profits than those who don’t. So they have also recognised that it’s not only the right of women to assume higher positions, but it’s a smart thing to do.”

Flanked by ANC Women’s League provincial secretary Nolitha Ntobongwana throughout her visit this week, Dlamini-Zuma was last in the province in February, when she was rejected by amaXhosa King Mpendulo Zwelonke Sigcawu, who said the country was not ready for a female president.

Dlamini-Zuma worked hard in the Eastern Cape last week, addressing the SA Funeral Practitioners Association in East London on Monday, making door-to-door visits in Duncan Village and then addressing the SA Students Congress at the University of Fort Hare in Alice on Tuesday. On Wednesday, she visited Elliotdale for a prayer service for women and children who had been abused and killed.

Speaking about radical economic transformation, she said it was not normal that the economy of an entire nation was in the hands of a few. “The ANC is saying now is the time for radical economic transformation. So the struggle, comrades, is not over,” she said, adding that an economic struggle was far more difficult “because the enemy is not as well defined as it was during apartheid”.

She said that, when it comes to the economy, ANC members should not be apologetic, but must be clear that it needs to be transformed. — News24