PRESSURE MOUNTS ON NUMBER ONE

Pressure continues to pile on Jacob Zuma to step down following the death of Nelson Mandela. The latest to add his voice to this demand is Numsa’s acting President Andrew Chirwa. He asked union members to consider urging Zuma to resign over the spending of more than 200 million on his private home in Nkandla.

 “Should we not ask our president Jacob Zuma who benefitted from this saga, to resign in the interest of the poor? Must we not ask that he resigns in the interest of the poor? Must we not ask that he resigns to preserve the legacy of Nelson Mandela?” he asked delegates at the Union’s special national congress in Boksburg. Many members of Zuma’s own party, the ANC, made it clear they’ve had enough of him when they heckled him in front of the world leaders last week at Mandela’s memorial service. If Numsa – Cosatu’s biggest affiliate and a powerful voice within the ruling ANC alliance heeds Chirwa’s call, this will be part of a growing disenchantment with Zuma. With calls for his head mounting, will Number One consider doing the honorable thing?