2005-11-29,+Crunch+week+for+Zuma,+Mde,+Business+Day

Business Day, Johannesburg, 28 November 2005 = **Crunch week for Zuma as NPA considers his fate** = Vukani Mde

Political Correspondent

IT WILL be crunch week for Jacob Zuma as the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) considers his fate and political backers of the former deputy president waver in the face of the damaging rape claims made against him.

It is understood that NPA boss Vusi Pikoli will this week hand back the Zuma rape docket to police for further investigation, signalling that the NPA wants a watertight case before going ahead with Zuma’s prosecution for rape.

Though Pikoli rarely makes prosecutorial decisions himself, he is said to be personally handling the Zuma docket because of the high-profile and sensitive nature of the case.

NPA spokesman Makhosini Nkosi said yesterday a decision would soon be announced on whether to prosecute Zuma, but would not be drawn on a date.

Yesterday the South African Communist Party (SACP) became the latest organisation to signal its intention to dump Zuma should he be charged. Following a meeting of its central committee, the SACP said there was a need to deal “harshly” with rape and other forms of violence against women. This was in contrast to the African National Congress (ANC) and Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu), which both last week refused to be drawn on what their reaction would be to a rape charge.

Speaking to the media following the meeting, SACP deputy general secretary Jeremy Cronin said: “We must condemn rape. We must abhor it, and we would call for justice to be done.” Cronin also emphasised that the alleged complainant should be treated with sensitivity and a “great deal of respect” as it took courage to report the matter to the police.

This was in contrast to Zuma insiders who have questioned the complainant’s motives, and see the rape allegations as part of a wider conspiracy against Zuma.

The central committee held a long discussion on the escalation of violence against women, which was the context in which the Zuma rape allegations arose, Cronin said. He said that if Zuma was charged it would be a matter for the ANC to handle.

But party leaders acknowledged privately that a rape charge would force the party to back down from what they termed its “principled support” for Zuma in his upcoming corruption trial. They said the party’s continued support for Zuma in his corruption trial was in line with the ANC’s national general council meeting, which earlier restored Zuma to his position as deputy president following attempts by top ANC brass to remove him.

The support also came in the light of perceptions of a political conspiracy in which state organs had been used to scupper Zuma’s succession bid. But this did not mean that the party supported Zuma’s presidential ambitions.

“This support was never understood by the SACP to be support for a presidential succession campaign,” said the central committee.

This was the second thumbs-down for Zuma’s succession ambitions from organisations that strongly supported him following his sacking in June.

Last week Cosatu also said it did not support Zuma as a candidate for the ANC’s presidency in 2007.

Last weekend Zuma also had to give an undertaking to the ANC’s national executive meeting that he would not use his ANC position to campaign for the party’s presidency.

Things could worsen for Zuma today when the ANC Youth League finally reacts to the rape allegations.

While the league is expected to reaffirm its support for Zuma today, sources said they would call on him to step down as ANC deputy president if he were charged, until the conclusion of the court case.

From: http://www.businessday.co.za/articles/topstories.aspx?ID=BD4A119402