Mbeki 'no longer fit to lead'

2008-09-18 15:35

Johannesburg - The Progressive Youth Alliance (PYA) believes that President Thabo Mbeki will be "released" on Monday, based on what it has heard while lobbying members of the African National Congress national executive committee on his removal.

The NEC is meeting from Friday and Mbeki's future is expected to be high on the agenda following last week's setting aside of corruption charges against ANC President Jacob Zuma.

In that judgement, Pietermaritzburg High Court Judge Chris Nicholson implied that there had been political meddling in Zuma's case, and mentioned the role of Mbeki.

"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," said the Young Communist League's (YCL) national secretary Buti Manamela.

The YCL, the Congress of South African Students, the South African Students' Congress and the ANC Youth League (ANCYL) were discussing Mbeki's future at a press conference under the umbrella of the PYA.

ANCYL president Julius Malema called Mbeki a dictator, and said that the league intended to press for disciplinary charges against him in the ANC, and to have his membership card removed.

Malema added that the decision to appeal Judge Nicholson's judgement was further proof of political meddling, saying that it came after a meeting between the National Prosecuting Authority and Mbeki before the decision was announced.

- SAPA