Out in the cold

DIVISIONS threatened to tear the ANC apart yesterday as supporters of newly re-elected party president Jacob Zuma demanded that he fire Kgalema Motlanthe as South Africa's deputy president.

Motlanthe - who has for 15 years served in key positions in the ANC - again surprised the Mangaung conference yesterday by turning down nomination to the party's national executive committee.

The day before he chose to contest only the party presidency, though the odds were heavily against him.

Last night, in an unscheduled speech to conference delegates, Motlanthe said: "I wish you strength and wisdom in uniting the ANC and its leagues, the alliance and, most important, all South Africans."

His spokesman, Thabo Masebe, said reports that Motlanthe was leaving government immediately should be treated as rumours.

"I'm not aware of this, he hasn't said anything to me. Treat them [tweets] as rumours. For now he remains the deputy president of the republic."

ANC spokesman Jackson Mthembu said the party had not been aware of Motlanthe's plan to decline nomination to the NEC. "It was between him and the electoral commission."

The reasons for Motlanthe turning his back on the ANC leadership - of which he has been both deputy president and secretary-general - were not clear last night.

But a source said on Monday that Motlanthe was not prepared to serve on ANC structures in which the party's constitution was being "misinterpreted". His decision is likely to harden the stance of Zuma's supporters.

"These people wanted to collapse the ANC; they went around saying [that] under Zuma the economy has collapsed," a Zuma lobbyist said.

Other leaders who might be axed include Human Settlements Minister Tokyo Sexwale, North West Premier Thandi Modise, Arts and Culture Minister Paul Mashatile and Sports Minister Fikile Mbalula.

Less than an hour after his re-election as ANC president was announced, Zuma appealed for unity.

"Once the ANC has spoken we have to look at how we treat one another . It's in the manner in which we interact [and] conduct ourselves [that] we begin to address one of the fundamental principles of the ANC, the unity of the ANC."

Those who accepted nomination to the NEC included Frank Chikane, former director-general in President Thabo Mbeki's office, and Winnie Madikizela-Mandela. Members of the ANC-led alliance who accepted nomination include Cosatu president Sdumo Dlamini and Communist Party leaders Zokwana Senzeni, Thulas Nxexi, Blade Nzimande and Buti Manamela. The losers in the top six battle - including Sexwale, Mathews Phosa, Modise and Mbalula - are automatically considered nominees for the NEC unless they decline. - Additional reporting by BDlive and Sapa