S.Africa's ruling party to discuss Zuma's graft case
JOHANNESBURG (AFP) — The corruption charge against new ANC leader Jacob Zuma will be discussed by the party's national executive council on Monday, the party secretary general said Sunday.
"The corruption charge against Zuma is on the agenda. It (NEC) will deal with the issue but it will not be the major focus of the meeting," Gwede Mantashe, told AFP.
"We will handle the issue in a way that it will not affect the nation's judiciary process," he said, without further explanation.
Zuma, 65, who was elected ANC president about two weeks ago, was on December 28 charged with fraud, corruption, money laundering, racketeering and tax evasion following a probe which also implicated a French arms manufacturing group, Thales.
The trial of Zuma, who married his fourth wife on Saturday, is scheduled for August 14.
Two leading South African jurists on Saturday said that the graft case against Zuma, which has attracted local and international attention, should be settled by the courts alone.
In a statement, Arthur Chaskalson -- the first post-apartheid head of South Africa's constitutional court -- and George Bizos -- ex-defence lawyer for former president Nelson Mandela -- said the courts must be allowed to decide on the matter.
"Putting pressure on the courts by making serious allegations of partiality, uttering threats of massive demonstrations and expressing opinions in intemperate language are harmful to the judicial process, to our constitutional democracy and to our country's reputation," the statement sent to SAPA said.
Given the ANC's dominance of South African politics since the end of the whites-only apartheid rule in 1994, Zuma would normally expect to become the country's president after President Thabo Mbeki's second term of office expires in 2009.
He has said he will stand down from the ANC if found guilty of any offence but he has steadfastly insisted on his innocence.
Zuma was sacked by Mbeki in 2005 after his financial advisor was found guility of solicting bribes on his behalf.
The Congress of South African Trade Unions, one of Zuma's biggest backers, condemned the move by the National Prosecuting Authority to charge Zuma against with corruption as a "politically inspired campaign" using state institutions to settle factional battles within the ANC.
His other supporters said that Zuma, believed to be on frosty terms with Mbeki, was the victim of a "political vendetta".
The ANC national executive meeting in Johannesburg will, among other things, also elect a 20-member National Working Committee, to oversee the day-to-day running of the party, Mantashe said.
Zuma and members of the ANC executive were elected at the party's conference in Polokwane town in northern Limpopo Province.
The meeting will also discuss the contents of the ANC's yearly "January 8" statement.
The statement, which gives the policy direction of the party, is given annually to mark the anniversary of the ANC.
The ANC, which turns 96 on January 8, led the struggle against whites-only minority apartheid rule.
