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The ANC rubber-stamped its position on Zuma on Sunday, with some of his allies in the party having laid the groundwork for his suspension

Today could be former president Jacob Zuma’s last day as an ANC member.

This comes as the ANC National Executive Committee (NEC) concludes its scheduled two-day meeting. 

ANC president Cyril Ramaphosa will open the NEC Lekgotla in the afternoon, which the party said will map the programme of action for the year ahead.

Zuma is history

It is believed, the ANC NEC rubber-stamped its position on Zuma on Sunday, with some of the former president’s known allies in the party having laid the groundwork for his suspension with immediate effect.

A late-night meeting of the NEC on Sunday saw the ANC’s highest decision-making body agree that Zuma’s membership must be suspended, and that secretary-general Fikile Mbalula must write to him informing him of the suspension.

According to NEC insiders, who spoke to News24, the initial decision was for Zuma’s branch in Nkandla to suspend his membership, but it later emerged that the branch was not in good standing.

No expulsion 

Also, the NEC opted not to expel Zuma as an ANC member as that would require longer disciplinary processes, which is believed he will not attend

According to the ANC constitution’s rule 25, Zuma’s actions to not campaign or voting for the ANC are tantamount to a breach of the party’s constitution.

In December, Zuma announced that he would support Umkhonto weSizwe party (MK) party for the 2024 general elections because the ANC has strayed from its core values.

However, this contradicts his statement in October when he said the ANC “remains the only viable instrument to bring about a better life” in South Africa while addressing party members and the public in Nyoni Branch ward 10 – under General Gizenga Mpanza Region in KwaZulu-Natal.

Not ANC member

Last week, ANC KwaZulu-Natal secretary Bheki Mtolo said Zuma was “no longer a member of the ANC”.

“We have not left him, he has left the ANC… I think it is the hatred for (Cyril) Ramaphosa, but also he has realised that the ANC has at some point got enough of serving only his interest.

“I can tell you the support we have given president Zuma, even after we were elected in 2022, is beyond any person, but there is a limit where you say I can’t go beyond this,” Mtolo said

@The Citizen