Mbeki removes Zuma from office
14 June 2005
President Thabo Mbeki has relieved Jacob Zuma of his duties as Deputy President of South Africa and member of the Cabinet. Mbeki made the announcement during a special joint sitting of the two Houses of Parliament in Cape Town on Tuesday afternoon.
The announcement came a week after Zuma's former financial adviser, Schabir Shaik, was sentenced to 15 years in jail for corruption and fraud in the Durban High Court. In passing judgment, Judge Hilary Squires found that a "generally corrupt relationship" had existed between Zuma and Shaik.
Mbeki told Parliament he had decided that "in the interest of the honourable Deputy President, the government, our young democratic system and our country, it would be best to release the honourable Jacob Zuma from his responsibilities as Deputy President of the Republic and member of the Cabinet."
Mbeki said that both he and Zuma were "acutely sensitive to the responsibilities we bear as prescribed by our
Constitution. We understand very well that we should at all times act in a manner that seeks to uphold, defend and respect the Constitution."
In particular, Mbeki said, the Constitution required the Executive to "discharge its responsibilities within the context of the rule of law, which includes respect for the integrity and independence of the judiciary and presumption of innocence of any person, pending findings of the courts."
The President said he continued to hold Zuma "in high regard", noting "the service that he has rendered to the Republic and its people before and after the attainment of our liberation" - and emphasising that Zuma had the right to be presumed innocent until proven otherwise.
Mbeki also noted that the legal process was still unfolding, and that Squires' judgment of Shaik could still be overturned on appeal.
'The mere existence of the judgment ...'
However, this was a matter for South Africa's higher
courts, Mbeki said.
As the head of the country's Executive, he had to consider not the "merits or demerits" of Squires' judgment but "merely ... the fact that a court judgment exists, which our Constitution enjoins us to respect".
At the same time, Mbeki said, the judgment contained "some categorical outcomes.
"These are that the court has made findings against the accused and at the same time pronounced on how these matters relate to our Deputy President ... raising questions of conduct that would be inconsistent with expectations that attend those who hold public office."
Zuma was appointed Deputy President in 1999. Mbeki said he would announce Zuma's successor as Deputy President in due course.
"I trust that what we have done today, and will do in future, together, will continue to strengthen our democracy, reinforce the accountability of those who hold public office, and deepen the confidence of the masses of our people in their elected
representatives and our organs of state."
Zuma, ANC accept Mbeki's decision
Addressing a press conference at the presidency in Tuynhuys, Cape Town shortly after Mbeki's announcement, Zuma said that he accepted the President's decision.
According to SABCnews, Zuma also offered to resign his seat in Parliament in order to make it easier for the African National Congress (ANC), the ruling party to which both he and Mbeki belong, to function within Parliament.
On Sunday, Zuma told a Congress of South African Trade Unions meeting in Durban that he was prepared to become an ordinary member of the ANC once more.
"I have served as a branch member with no position as an ordinary activist, and I have served with some responsibilities in a branch, and I have served at many levels," SABCnews quoted Zuma as saying.
"I will always be ready to do that, even today. The day the ANC says, 'do this', I will do it."
In a statement
released later on Tuesday, the ANC said that it "accepts and supports" Mbeki's decision on Zuma.
"The ANC understands this decision has been taken following careful consideration, in the best interests of democracy and effective governance, and with due regard to the integrity of all the institutions of our constitutional order.
"Comrade Jacob Zuma remains the deputy president of the ANC, and will
continue to receive the support of the ANC in the course of his work in this position."
SouthAfrica.info reporter
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