'Zuma must go' calls

The Institute for Accountability in SA has urged the ANC to consider "recalling" President Jacob Zuma, saying his credibility is so tainted that allowing him to continue in office would be "unpatriotic".

Paul Hoffman , director of the institute, cited the corruption charges against Zuma that were dropped in dubious circumstances in 2009 , the spy tapes saga, his failure to appoint an independent head of the National Prosecuting Authority, and the Nkandla fiasco as reasons for firing the president.

"All these things are accumulating to the point at which his personal credibility is so tainted that the ANC, if it is patriotic and loves this country, ought to be thinking about replacing Zuma," Hoffman said.

Zuma has ignored Public Protector Thuli Madonsela's recommendation that he pay a portion of the R246-million of public money spent on his private Nkandla homestead. Instead, he decided that Police Minister Nkosinathi Nhleko should decide whether he must recompense the state.

Madonsela wrote to Zuma on Thursday, saying he had not responded to her Nkandla report. In her letter, she gives him two weeks to tell her why he should not repay a portion of the money.

Constitutional law expert Professor Shadrack Gutto said Zuma had shown that he was not inclined to act in accordance with the constitution or the rule of law.

"It is clear that the president is trying to dodge the laws of the country," he said.

Gutto said the ANC must decide whether the party and the country could afford to have a leader who made a mockery of the constitution and the rule of law.

"If he does not respond to the public protector correctly then I think the public will have to think about another solution.

"We cannot have a president who does not care about the constitution and the law, and he should be removed," Gutto said.