Monare,+Star,+05-06-06,+Zuma,+Mbeki,+ANCYL

THE STAR, FRONT PAGE, June 6, 2005
='President' Zuma in charge=


 * //Mbeki may discuss deputy's fate with top prosecutor on trip to Chile//**


 * By Moshoeshoe Monare**

Scorpions boss Vusi Pikoli, who holds Deputy President Jacob Zuma's fate in his hands, is to accompany President Thabo Mbeki on a state visit to Chile.

Pikoli, head of the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA), will be part of a delegation leaving with Mbeki tonight.

He is the man who must decide whether to prosecute Zuma after Judge Hilary Squires found he was "generally corrupt" in his dealings with convicted fraudster Schabir Shaik.

While South Africa remains on tenterhooks, wondering if the deputy president will quit, he will become acting president while Mbeki is in South America.

Yesterday NPA spokesperson Makhosini Nkosi said that Pikoli and Mbeki could well discuss Zuma's fate during the three-day trip.

"I am not sure if they will but, if they did, there is nothing untoward about it," Nkosi said.

There was nothing unusual about the NPA accompanying the president, he said, adding that prosecuting officials could be part of the legal team if, for example, extradition issues were to be discussed.

But a recent reply to a question in parliament that asked the president to specify which officials accompanied him on local and overseas trips on his private jet did not mentioned a senior NPA official as part of the delegation.

Presidential spokesperson Bheki Khumalo said that, so far as he was aware, Mbeki had yet to speak to his deputy about the implications of the trial.

"As far as I am concerned, they (Mbeki and Zuma) have not spoken this weekend."

Referring to Zuma's elevation to head of state while Mbeki is away, Khumalo said protocol dictated that Zuma would be acting president in Mbeki's absence "as is always the norm".

He confirmed that Mbeki and Zuma were to face each other today for the first time at the ANC's routine meeting of the national working committee (NWC).

Yet an NWC member said the Zuma matter might not even be on the agenda.

"There could be reflections, but I don't think the NWC will spend too much time on this."

Beyond the ANC's formal structures, some officials continue to whisper about the need for Zuma to step down, although the party remains divided on the issue.

For now, though, Zuma remains silent - apparently content to let his supporters fight his battles.

Yesterday the ANC Youth League hit out at Judge Squires, saying his judgment was contradictory and the court had "rubbished Zuma's name".

It also criticised ANC members who believed Zuma should go.

Youth League president Fikile Mbalula questioned the decision of some ruling-party members to speak to the media on condition of anonymity.

"We see people who are masquerading as faceless people commenting and jumping the gun, saying (Zuma) must actually step down.

"Some of them parade themselves as (members) of the ANC in parliament, as senior people in the government... but they don't share the same objectives (as) us."

An NWC source said that Mbalula, as an ex officio member, would be supporting Zuma's position at the meeting this morning.

According to Sapa, Mbalula has said that the deputy president must be given the opportunity to defend himself against the allegations, even if it means charging him in a court of law.

"How can the evidence against him be tested if he is not charged?" the agency quotes him as saying.

The NWC includes Mbeki, Zuma; ANC secretary-general Kgalema Motlanthe; his deputy, Sankie Mthembi-Mahanyele; Defence Minister and ANC chairperson Mosiuoa Lekota; and treasurer-general Mendi Msimang.

Others on the committee are government spokesperson Joel Netshitenzhe, Social Development Minister Zola Skweyiya, Arts Minister Pallo Jordan, Justice Minister Brigitte Mabandla and Foreign Affairs Minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma.

Cosatu general secretary Zwelinzima Vavi said the union federation would today discuss the impending national strike but that "the organisation will reflect and take a stance on the Zuma matter".

The Communist Party and Young Communist League yesterday reiterated their support for Zuma, saying that he had not been charged.

The DA's federal congress, meeting at the weekend, repeated its view that Zuma should either be fired or quit.


 * From: http://www.thestar.co.za/index.php?fSectionId=128&fArticleId=2547584