Former President Jacob Zuma – recently found by the Zondo Commission to have paved the way for state capture – should be barred from participating in ANC activities in line with the party’s contentious step-aside rule, according to ANC national executive committee (NEC) member and Transport Minister Fikile Mbalula.

A Business Day report notes Zuma does not hold any leadership roles in the party after he resigned from his role as SA’s President in 2018, but as a former head of the ANC, he is permitted to attend and contribute to meetings of the NEC.

‘Zuma should be affected by step aside, he shouldn’t attend any meeting of the ANC given the charges he faces. He has been arrested and charged,’ Mbalula said.

‘The organisation has simply put a blind eye on it; I don’t know why.’

Considering that Zuma is facing serious corruption allegations and was in June 2021 found guilty of contempt of court and sentenced to 15 months imprisonment by the Constitutional Court, he is a ‘practical example’ of an ANC member who should step aside from party activities and leadership positions within the party for bringing the ANC’s image into disrepute, Mbalula said.

‘Step aside means you don’t execute anything of the ANC and your membership is suspended. All of those things must be examined post-state capture,’ he said.

Full Business Day report