As President Jacob Zuma's fate hung in the balance after a heated meeting of the ANC's national executive committee at the weekend there was consensus in the committee that newly reappointed Eskom CEO Brian Molefe be jettisoned.
The discussion came up after ANC secretary-general Gwede Mantashe labelled Molefe's return as "improper".
A source said that if the Eskom board failed to fire him, Public Enterprises Minister Lynne Brown would be ordered to sack the entire board.
"She does not have a choice. The NEC was very clear. This should have not happened. He has to go."
Soon after the decision to remove Molefe was finalised, a debate on Zuma ensued at the meeting.
At the time of going to print, discussions about Zuma's removal were unresolved. The meeting, in Irene, Pretoria, continued well into last night.
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Yesterday, more than 40 NEC members made submissions on matters related to Zuma's failures, disunity in the party and the possibility of the ANC losing the 2019 general election.
"Nothing was out of bounds . we all decided to speak our minds," said a second source.
Debate on how a decision would be taken once consensus had been reached that Zuma be removed dominated the meeting.
The NEC does not usually vote on issues and relies on convincing members to reach a final decision.
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Although the weekend's NEC meeting was not the first to debate Zuma's fate, insiders said opposition to him had increased.
The NEC meeting took place amid shocking revelations in leaked e-mails about how the Gupta family allegedly captured the state and were helping Zuma to set up a home in Dubai.
The second source said "the Guptas were not spared in the debate".