ANC: Manuel news was deliberate
2008-10-02 16:04
Johannesburg - The presidency's announcement last week of Cabinet resignations, including that of Finance Minister Trevor Manuel, was made to collapse markets, ANC secretary-general Gwede Mantashe said on Wednesday.
"Thus far we have averted the crisis, even when the list of ministers who have resigned was released with the sole objective - that of collapsing the markets - the swiftness of our response averted the worst," said Mantashe.
He said Gauteng premier Mbhazima Shilowa would be replaced with the same speed as the ministers who had resigned.
"When dealing with any crisis the speed is of essence," he added.
Mantashe, who was addressing the Dan Tloome memorial lecture, talked about the divisions in the African National Congress as a result of the eight-year corruption investigation against the party's leader Jacob Zuma.
These divisions, he said, eventually culminated in a decision by the ANC's national executive committee to remove Mbeki from office.
"The decision to recall comrade Mbeki became urgent... so that the movement can unite itself behind a single movement, a single leadership collective and a single programme.
"We appreciated that in any revolution there are cases where loyalty to the commander becomes stronger than to the movement itself."
This loyalty to Mbeki had led to talks of a splinter party.
Two days after Mbeki announced his resignation last Sunday, his office issued a statement announcing the resignation of 14 Cabinet ministers, including Manuel.
The news of Manuel's resignation shocked financial markets and saw the rand drop sharply. Manuel then announced he was prepared to serve as finance minister again under the new Cabinet led by President Kgalema Motlanthe.
At the time, the ANC called an urgent press conference to clarify the situation, but then stopped short of accusing Mbeki's office of deliberately attempting to cause confusion on the markets.
- SAPA