ANC to Vote on Ousting Mbeki As South African President

The ruling African National Congress begins a meeting tomorrow to decide whether to remove Thabo Mbeki as South Africa's president after a high court judge accused him of misusing the justice system in a bitter power struggle with his archrival, Jacob Zuma.

If the party leadership votes to "recall" Mbeki from office he will immediately be asked to resign. If he refuses to go, parliament is likely to vote to remove him - bringing a premature end to a presidency launched on the vision of leading an African renaissance but long tainted by his policies on HIV/Aids and an authoritarian and vindictive style of governing.

Powerful ANC figures have thrown their weight behind the proposal to sack Mbeki after a high court judge effectively accused him of using apartheid-style tactics in engineering the prosecution of Jacob Zuma for corruption in order to block him from becoming party leader.

South Africa's Business Day newspaper reported today that the ANC's powerful national working committee resolved on Monday to seek Mbeki's swift resignation. Its recommendation now has to be approved by the party's national executive, which meets over the next three days.

Zuma has been cautious about removing Mbeki from office. Earlier this week he told party activists it was not worth wasting energy on a "dead snake", indicating that he wanted to avoid a confrontation that would highlight divisions and could cost the party votes when there will be an election in May in any case.

"We can't hold debates among ourselves that raise the temperature. There is an administration that is coming to an end, so if you do so, you are like someone who beats a dead snake. It died a long time ago, but you are still beating it ... wasting your energy," he said.

If Zuma remains set against sacking the president, it will be the most important test of his authority within the ANC since he ousted Mbeki as party leader late last year.

But the determination of some of Mbeki's opponents to remove him from office was stiffened yesterday after the prosecutions authority said it would appeal against the high court quashing of the corruption charges against Zuma.

That infuriated some of Zuma's supporters who said it was further evidence that prosecutors were acting on behalf of Mbeki.

The ANC's treasurer general, Mathews Phosa, who was once accused by Mbeki of plotting a coup, hinted yesterday that the president will be forced to go.

Phosa noted that Mbeki had himself sacked Zuma as deputy president three years ago after a judge accused him of corruption.

"The events of 2005, when a judge also made a ruling and leaders, including the president, acted on that ruling, contain some guidelines for handling this situation," he said.

The ANC youth league and the party's Communist allies are lobbying hard to remove Mbeki.

The secretary of the Young Communist League, Buti Manamela, said he believes the president will be forced out.

"Come Monday, they are going to pronounce that President Thabo Mbeki is going to be released because he is no longer capable of leading the country," he said.

The ANC leadership is almost certain to be able to muster a simple majority in parliament for a vote of no confidence in the government, which would force an early election. Most of the party's MPs are likely to have an eye on ensuring selection as candidates for the next election.

Alternatively, the party could try to impeach Mbeki but that would require a two-thirds majority and the support of some opposition MP's.

If parliament does remove Mbeki, the speaker, Baleka Mbete, will become acting president.

But Mbeki is not expected to go down without a fight. His cabinet issued a statement today saying it will seek legal advice on the high court ruling and its accusations of political interference in the Zuma case.

Mbeki's allies then suggested that the ANC could not move against him while the high court ruling is still under appeal.

"Cabinet respects the judiciary and its decisions," the government spokesperson, Themba Maseko, told a media briefing after the meeting.

"However, cabinet does not accept the suggestion that either the president or the executive interfered with the prosecuting decisions of the National Prosecuting Authority regarding the prosecution of any person or persons.

"The judge may not have had all the facts in front of him when he reached that conclusion."