South Africa: Anc in Talks on Ousting Mbeki

President Thabo Mbeki's political future hung in the balance yesterday as South Africa's ruling party debated whether to force him from office and a leading former judge said he should be put on trial for allegedly misusing his power to try to imprison the man likely to succeed him, Jacob Zuma.

The African National Congress national executive began a three-day meeting at which Mbeki's future will be decided after a high court judge accused the president and senior justice officials of being part of an illegal conspiracy to charge Zuma, the ANC's president, with corruption for political ends.

Mbeki's critics were lobbying hard for his removal, although earlier in the week Zuma was more cautious. South Africa's influential council of churches warned that ousting Mbeki could create chaos.

Before the meeting, Mbeki launched a robust defence of his actions saying in a statement that the "insults" hurled at him were not based on facts. He denied any involvement in the decision to prosecute Zuma and said "no evidence has been provided by those making the claim".

But the president received another blow before the meeting began when one of the country's most respected former judges, Willem Heath, called for the president, his former justice minister, Penuell Maduna, and the former chief prosecutor, Bulelani Ngcuka, to be charged with crimes for pursuing a political prosecution.

His call followed a ruling last week by a high court judge, Chris Nicholson, against the prosecution of Zuma, which he said was the result of "baleful political influence".

Heath told a Johannesburg newspaper, the Mail and Guardian, that South Africans needed protection from the "systematic abuse, detailed in the judgment, of organs of state by the president and his purported henchmen.

"If the behavior found by Nicholson is not addressed, the application of the principle of the separation of powers will remain at the whim of those who have seemingly been using it most effectively for personal gain."

Some senior party officials said they would not support ousting Mbeki because of the damage it would do to the party.

Mbhazima Shilowa, the premier of Gauteng province, with Johannesburg and Pretoria at its heart, said that a no confidence vote would divide the ANC.

"I think members of the executive will not vote for that motion," he said. "I personally don't think the judgment provides any basis to say the president must go."

But some ANC factions, including the party's youth league, Communists and trade unionists have lobbied hard to oust Mbeki.

The council of churches said that removing Mbeki could plunge the country into a crisis. "In our view, the recalling or impeachment of the president will lead to the collapse of the current executive and would plunge the country into an avoidable and unnecessary crisis. The negative political and economic repercussions of such an induced collapse are too ghastly to contemplate."