Publication: Sapa Issued: Johannesburg Date: 2005-11-19 Reporter: Sapa

ANC NEC to Discuss Report

 

Publication 

Sapa
BC-ANC-NEC

Date

2005-11-19

Issued

Johannesburg

Reporter

 Sapa

 

African National Congress (ANC) leaders spent Saturday afternoon discussing, among other things, ways to heal rifts in the party.

The ANC national executive committee (NEC) was due to receive and discuss a report over the next two days on ways to heal the rifts.

The party's national working committee (NWC) on Monday approved the report, authored by President Thabo Mbeki and his party deputy, Jacob Zuma.

The NEC started its meeting on Friday. But at 2pm on Saturday, there was no indication of when it would end.

Tensions in the ANC arose from accusations by Zuma supporters that he is the victim of a campaign to prevent him from succeeding Mbeki as president.

These relate to Zuma's dismissal earlier in the year and to charges he is facing following the corruption and fraud conviction of his financial adviser, Schabir Shaik.

The NWC said the report it discussed at Monday's meeting captured the substance of interactions between the president and deputy president of the party over the last two months.

The NEC mandated Mbeki and Zuma to draft the report on September 9.

It was not clear whether the NEC would discuss what action to take over an alleged rape charge against Zuma.

The police have refused to confirm whether the charge was being investigated. This was despite the Beeld newspaper printing the number of the case, 312/11/2005, across its front page on Saturday.

The SABC reported that the Johannesburg police had confirmed that the case number Beeld published had involved a rape, but would not elaborate.

However, speaking to Sapa, national police spokeswoman Director Sally De Beer would not even say anything about the case number.

"We are not going to confirm this case number. I cannot speculate on where the Beeld got the case number from," De Beer said.

According to Beeld the complainant was a 31-year-old HIV-positive Aids activist who regarded Zuma as a father figure.

The charge was laid on November 4 at the Hillbrow police station, a day after the alleged offence took place at Zuma's house in Forest Town, Johannesburg.

Beeld wrote that a police officer -- whom they did not identify -- had confirmed that the charge had been laid and was being investigated.

Beeld said it had reliably learned that the complainant in the Zuma case had a nervous breakdown after news of the rape allegation was published in the media. She had apparently been raped some years before, and became HIV-positive.

According to the source, the woman had considered withdrawing the charge, and that was why she apparently told a newspaper that she had not been raped, and denied laying a charge against Zuma.

The source confirmed that the complainant was in police protection while the investigation proceeded.

The complainant's mother was in Swaziland when she heard of the incident. She flew to Durban where she apparently advised her daughter to drop the case, but could not persuade her to do so.

Zuma's attorney, Michael Hulley, was not available for comment, but has previously repeatedly denied the rape allegation.

Zuma's supporters have dismissed the rape allegation -- which first surfaced in the Sunday Times last week -- as part of a plot to prevent Zuma becoming president in 2009 when Mbeki leaves office.

On Saturday afternoon ANC spokespeople were not taking calls.

With acknowledgement to Sapa.