It will be high-noon at the St. George's Hotel outside Pretoria on Monday where the African National Congress' (ANC) National Executive Committee (NEC) will have to decide whether or not to allow a vote of no-confidence in President Jacob Zuma.
The NEC's scheduled three-day meeting was supposed to end on Sunday, but was thrown into disarray after the motion was tabled by Cabinet minister and party member Derek Hanekom. NEC members supporting Tourism Minister Hanekom are pressing for a closed vote on Zuma's fitness for office, while Zuma supporters are rallying their voting bloc.
The NEC's scheduled three-day meeting was supposed to end on Sunday, but was thrown into disarray after the motion was tabled by Derek Hanekom, a Cabinet minister.
News24 reported that Hanekom was supported by at least two other ministers — Aaron Motsoaledi and Thulas Nxesi — while Independent Newspapers reported on Sunday the split over the weekend was roughly 20 members on both sides, with uncertainty around the allegiances of the rest swirling about.
According to weekend reports, the pro-Zuma faction was caught off-guard by Hanekom's intervention and that many of them were in Stellenbosch attending the wedding of another NEC member, Mzwandile Masina. They have since rushed back to Gauteng to be present if and when a vote takes place.
ANC veterans, some who have attended last week's meeting between senior ANC members and the party leadership, have told HuffPost SA that even if Zuma isn't forced out now, the political tectonic plates inside the ANC have shifted irreversibly.
ANC veterans, some who have attended last week's meeting between senior ANC members and the party leadership, have told HuffPost SA that even if Zuma isn't forced out now, the political tectonic plates inside the ANC have shifted irreversibly.
One veteran, who knows Hanekom very well, said that Hanekom tabled the motion without regard for his own political future. He would have lobbied widely beforehand, but even though the chances of such a motion being carried were slim, the veteran believes Hanekom tabled it as "a matter of conscience and as a matter of principle".