KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) African National Congress (ANC) Coordinator, Sihle Zikalala has denied that some members of the party in his province plan to overthrow President Cyril Ramaphosa.
Speaking to the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) on Sunday 8 April, Zikalala refuted these claims saying that he knows nothing of the allegations.
“In KwaZulu-Natal I haven’t heard of anyone proposing or echoing a view of voting for anyone except consolidating unity and ensuring that there is support for the ANC general elections,” he said.
On Sunday, 8 April the Sunday Times reported that members of the party in KZN have devised a plan to unseat Ramaphosa’s leadership in support of former president, Jacob Zuma.
The paper also claimed that members are planning to split their votes by voting for the ANC in the province and voting for another party nationally. The paper further says that the disgruntled members of the party in KZN have hatched a plan to vote alongside Black First Land First (BLF) ahead of next year’s general elections.
Zuma is facing a slew of challenges since his resignation as the county’s president in February. He faces 16 charges of fraud, corruption and money laundering. These charges relate to payments that he allegedly received from French arms company, Thint. The charges were dropped in 2009 by former National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) head, Mokotedi Mpshe citing political interference.
Current NPA head, Shaun Abrahams reinstated the charges last month.
Speaking to thousands of his supporters outside the Durban High Court on Friday, 6 April 2018 where he made his first court appearance, Zuma said he is innocent until proven guilty. He further claimed that the charges against him are politically motivated because he championed Radical Economic Transformation (RET) during his time as president.