D-day for president at key NEC meeting

Tourism Minister Derek Hanekom this weekend led the charge against President Jacob Zuma at the ANC's national executive committee meeting, openly telling him that he should step down as president.

ANC insiders who attended the meeting revealed that it was Hanekom who first criticised Zuma after the president delivered his political overview speech.

The debate around Zuma's credibility began at about lunchtime yesterday and ended late last night.

The Sunday Times understands that it was ANC Youth League president Collen Maine who came to Zuma's defence.

A proposal to vote on the matter was shot down yesterday and a decision will be made today.

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Zuma's opponents have been emboldened by growing calls within and outside the ANC for the president to vacate his office.

On Friday they scored a minor victory when the national working committee agreed to hold a consultative conference "in theory" as part of the policy conference to take place mid-year.

This decision was taken after a meeting with party veterans who had expressed concern about the direction the governing party had taken under Zuma.

ANC secretary-general Gwede Mantashe yesterday afternoon said: "We are looking seriously into whether the national democratic revolution is on course."

An NEC member who asked not to be named said the discussion on the "national democratic revolution" was actually code for "discussing Zuma's failures".

Mantashe said the public protector's State of Capture report, which has been used by Zuma's detractors to call for his head, had been distributed to those attending the meeting.

"We have given every member a copy of the State of Capture report and we are talking to it. And I don't know what the end of that would be."