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=Mbeki set to act on Zuma =

The Star, June 7, 2005

 * By Moshoeshoe Monare, Angela Quintal, Peter Fabricius, Poloko Tau**

Jacob Zuma has a nail-biting few days before President Thabo Mbeki announces whether his popular second-in-command will be fired or remain in office.

"The president has indicated that as soon as practicable after his return from a state visit to Chile, he will communicate to the public any decisions that he will have taken on the matter," a government statement said yesterday. Mbeki, who left on a state trip to Chile last night, had also informed Deputy President Zuma accordingly, it said.

Government spokesperson Joel Netshitenzhe said the men had held "lengthy discussions" yesterday.

He was not sure where it took place, but assumed it was at Luthuli House, the ANC's headquarters in Joburg, where a routine meeting of the ruling party's national working committee had been scheduled.

Last night, Zuma received "pastoral support, sustenance and prayers" from the SA Council of Churches (SACC) at a Midrand hotel.

SACC general secretary Molefe Tsele said the council was pleased by the meeting with Zuma.

"We spent quality time with Mr Zuma and he offered his time to share with us his views on what is happening with his name in the media," Tsele said.

"We prayed with him and gained the understanding of his confidence and faith in our democracy."

Zuma was very upbeat, Tsele said, and had left strengthened and appreciative of the SACC's intervention.

"We were also impressed that he repeatedly said (the trial) was one of the greatest parts of our democracy. He seemed to say our democracy has a vibrancy that even the great people of a country can be prosecuted," he said.

Tsele said the church leaders had met Zuma only to do what they would normally do to anyone in need of "strength and courage".

"He is almost like anyone who is grieving. We take no position in what is happening around him and pass no judgment.

"We should, however, note that the key issue here is to reiterate the fact that he has not been charged," Tsele added.

Mbeki is due to return to South Africa on Thursday, earlier than expected after the cancellation of the second leg of his South American trip to Argentina.

According to the government, Mbeki had received a copy of the Schabir Shaik judgment and was studying it "to form a comprehensive view on its legal and political implications for the government".

The president was also awaiting the completion of the legal process in the Shaik case before determining the course of action to follow.

In stark contrast to Zuma's supporters, who have questioned the judgment, the statement said Mbeki wished "to reiterate the position of the government that we accept the outcome of the trial, recognising that there may be an appeal to higher courts".

"The president and government do not only respect the rule of law, but we are fully cognisant of the constitutional obligation on the part of the president to act as the custodian of this principle."

In terms of section 91 of the constitution, the president has the power to appoint the deputy president and dismiss him.

Mbeki, who left for Chile last night, was accompanied by National Prosecuting Authority head Vusi Pikoli, who ultimately will decide whether to prosecute Zuma for corruption following Judge Hilary Squires' finding that the deputy president and Shaik had a "generally corrupt" relationship.

Meanwhile Cosatu and the tripartite alliance partners in KwaZulu Natal yesterday came out in Zuma's support - a day after the ANC Youth League, the Young Communist League and the SACP rallied around the embattled deputy president.

The alliance - Zuma's traditional support base - announced its "unqualified confidence" in the deputy president, Sapa reported.

After a meeting of Cosatu's 21 affiliate unions, the trade union federation warned the ANC that if the "political trial" against Zuma was handled inappropriately, it would have a huge, devastating effect.

It repeated its claim that the trial was part of a political conspiracy to stop Zuma from becoming the future president and was being fuelled by sinister forces in the ANC who wanted to stymie his career.

However, Cosatu stopped short of predicting that it would split from the alliance if Zuma was forced to go.

Cosatu general secretary Zwelinzima Vavi said the federation would call for an emergency meeting of the alliance leadership to discuss this matter. An alliance secretariat meeting was scheduled for today.

The ANC, however, remained tight-lipped after its committee meeting yesterday.

ANC spokesperson Smuts Ngonyama said the party would not issue a statement because the national working committee had held a routine meeting.

He would not say whether the Shaik case and its implications for Zuma were raised.

However, a committee member, who asked not to be named, said the matter was not discussed.

Vavi, who has come out personally in support of Zuma as the next president, repeated that Shaik's trial "was nothing but a political trial of the deputy president".

He warned that by treating Zuma "shabbily, you are insulting those who believe in him".


 * From: http://www.thestar.co.za/index.php?fSectionId=128&fArticleId=2548833