ANC national leaders to engage its critics of Zuma

The national leadership of the African National Congress gave its full backing to President Zuma at an extraordinary meeting of its national working committee in Cape Town‚ accepting his apology over Nkandla and insisting‚ that while liable to pay back some of the money spent on his homestead he had not broken his oath of office.

The ANC has weathered a storm of adverse public opinion since the Constitutional Court judgment on Thursday which found that Mr Zuma had acted illegally in ignoring the remedial action of the Public Protector and had behaved in manner inconsistent with the constitution.

Monday night's meeting‚ attended by almost all the members of the national executive‚ approved a report compiled by the ANC's national officials (which include Mr Zuma) after its own meeting last Friday.

The report recommended that the directive of the Constitutional Court that Mr Zuma pay back the money be implemented. It also recommended that Mr Zuma's apology "for the confusion caused" over the Nkandla scandal be accepted.

ANC secretary-general Gwede Mantashe said on Monday night following the meeting: "The report of the national officials was endorsed. At this point‚ what we need to do (next) is explain ourselves to the people."

With the pronouncement of the Constitutional Court and the processing of the judgment by ANC structures the "matter was now closed" he said.

• For the sake of your country, Mr President, GO NOW!ANC veterans are calling on President Jacob Zuma to step down, with Nelson Mandela's fellow Rivonia trialist Andrew Mlangeni saying he avoided news of the Nkandla matter for the sake of his health. 

He said that ANC leaders would now engage directly with all those who had expressed their views in recent days including ANC stalwarts such as Robben Islander Ahmed Kathrada and Rivonia trialist Dennis Goldberg.

Veterans of the ANC's armed wing Umkhonto we Sizwe‚ who had also recently expressed their criticism of Mr Zuma‚ would also be engaged.

Mr Mantashe said that the meeting wanted to see the implementation of the court's directive around Nkandla "implemented to the letter." However‚ he insisted that the finding by the court which said that Mr Zuma's behaviour was inconsistent with the Constitution‚ did not imply any further legal‚ ethical or political consequences for either the ANC or the president.

Social and legal commentators and opposition parties argue that this finding leads to the logical conclusion that the court found that he had broken his oath of office.

The constitution says that the president "must uphold‚ defend and respect the Constitution as the supreme law of the Republic." Mr Mantashe said that nowhere in the judgment was it stated that Mr Zuma had broken his oath of office.

"We've read that judgment backwards and forwards and obtained legal advice. Nowhere does he say he flouted his oath of office. That is in the imagination of opposition parties‚" he said.

The National Assembly will this afternoon debate a motion brought by the Democratic Alliance (DA) for Mr Zuma's removal on ground that he has committed "a serious violation of the Constitution or the law."

Other opposition parties are to make known their plans tomorrow after a joint meeting with the DA. – TMG Digital/BDlive