African National Congress (ANC) deputy president Jacob Zuma needs the express permission of the party’s leadership before he can attend any ANC activity, including ordinary branch meetings, the organisation said yesterday.

The party’s top leadership yesterday stripped Zuma (pictured right) of his mass base when it barred him from all party activities, putting the brakes on Zuma’s spirited fightback.

The party’s national working committee, which held a crisis meeting on Tuesday night following Zuma’s arraignment on rape charges, informed him of his new status yesterday morning.

Early on Tuesday, Zuma tried to pre-empt an undignified exit by voluntarily stepping down from leading ANC structures while stressing that he would remain deputy president. Yesterday the ANC top brass turned the tables on him and effectively grounded Zuma when it suspended him from taking any action as the party’s number two.

“Following consultation with comrade Zuma, the national working committee understands this decision to mean that he will not act nor pronounce in the capacity of deputy president of the ANC for the duration of (the rape) trial,” said ANC secretary general Kgalema Motlanthe.

Zuma will also be barred from all gatherings of the party, including those of the ANC Youth League, who have provided Zuma with a public platform to speak. The league insisted last week that it would continue to invite Zuma to public meetings despite the rape setback.

That Zuma retains his position as ANC deputy president — though in name only — is due only to the protection given to him by the party’s constitution, which does not allow the leadership to oust him outside of a national conference.

Prior to yesterday’s dramatic announcement, sources close to Zuma were still convinced that the ANC would need him in the campaign for local government elections next year. However President Thabo Mbeki seems determined to tackle Zuma’s KwaZulu-Natal stronghold all by himself, even if it means going there armed to the teeth, accompanied by a particularly heavy security detail when he holds an imbizo in KwaDukuza, his first in the province since sacking Zuma in June. This is a risky step for Mbeki as provincial premier Sbu Ndebele, a close Mbeki ally, has been booed and pelted at public appearances because of anger over Zuma’s axing.

Zuma’s exclusion from the election campaign could prove to be a thorn in the party’s side in a province where the ANC’s electoral hold is weak. But the party seems determined to win over voters without Zuma.

Motlanthe said the ANC would continue to “engage” with voters to explain the Zuma crisis. He also outlined an internal plan to sell Zuma’s ousting to ANC regions and other structures. A special national executive committee will be held next week to kick off the process.

The move was calculated to avoid an embarrassing reversal similar to that suffered by the party’s top brass at this year’s national general council meeting.

Zuma insiders were caught off-guard by the latest setback and did not seem to anticipate the national working committee going as far as stripping Zuma of his mass constituency. Last night they said they would have to “weigh up” the decision before making their next move. However they will be hamstrung by Zuma’s total exclusion.

He will not be present at next week’s executive meeting to plead his case, nor can he speak to ordinary branches across the country.

With acknowledgements to Karima Brown, Vukani Mde and the Business Day.