President Thabo Mbeki was playing his cards close to his chest yesterday as he was poised to decide the fate of Deputy President Jacob Zuma, with sources saying the president would now announce his decision only after meeting his alliance partners next week.

Mbeki’s delay in saying what he intends to do with Zuma came as the fight over his deputy’s political future turned nasty.

An SMS purportedly from African National Congress (ANC) secretary-general Kgalema Motlanthe was sent to ANC members yesterday. It lambasts the Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) and the South African Communist Party (SACP) for what it said was interference in internal ANC politics. Motlanthe denied any knowledge of the message.

ANC insiders also questioned the SMS’s authenticity.

Meanwhile, sources said Mbeki was buying time, and would announce a decision on Zuma after another special meeting of the ANC’s high-powered national working committee. The special meeting would include leaders of the ANC’s trade union and communist allies.

The sources said Mbeki’s delay on the matter followed a decision taken at a meeting on Wednesday between Motlanthe, the SACP’s Blade Nzimande and Cosatu’s Bheki Ntshalintshali.

Sources could not say when the meeting would be held. “The intention is to brief the partners on the way forward. The thinking is that structures must be informed first before a public announcement is made. This could be today (Friday), Monday, or anytime over the weekend.”

Business Day understands that Mbeki will be at Luthuli House, the ANC’s Johannesburg headquarters, on Monday, to attend to routine ANC business.

Senior government and ANC figures could not say for certain what the president was likely to announce at the special meeting.

Yesterday’s eagerly awaited cabinet statement gave no indication, saying only: “The meeting (of the cabinet) affirmed the positions of government on the outcome of the trial of Schabir Shaik, as contained in the statements issued on June 2 and 6.”

Political analyst Aubrey Matshiqi said cabinet’s reticence to speak about the Zuma issue was an indication of the divisions in government and the ANC over the scandal.

While Mbeki is free to remove Zuma as deputy president, he faces an uphill battle in convincing the ANC and its alliance partners. Mbeki’s silence has also allowed a vociferous campaign from Zuma’s supporters.

The ANC Youth League yesterday used a march against youth unemployment to rally crowds to the Zuma cause. “Hands off Zuma” and “Zuma for President” were some of the slogans shouted by league leaders and supporters.

Zuma was also in Eastern Cape yesterday drumming up support among the ANC’s grassroots supporters.

Zuma told an imbizo in East London that the media had been “grossly unfair” in its coverage of controversy that surrounded him.

Zuma said the people of SA had to be listened to, and not just the opinion makers.

“We believe that if we listened only to the media, columnists and opinion makers, that is not enough,” he said.

Analysts said the rift over Zuma has pitted the ANC’s national leadership against popular sentiment in the provinces and branches. Matshiqi said this was the reason for Mbeki’s reluctance to play his hand early.

Any sudden move against Zuma, without the support of all the ANC’s power centres, would risk splitting the organisation, he said.

The extended national working committee meeting with alliance partners would give Mbeki the chance to bring his labour and communist allies on board behind a decision to sack his number two.

Zuma supporters in the organisation’s national executive committee were said to be unhappy about the committee’s statement against corruption two weeks ago. They said the timing of the anticorruption statement made it a deliberate attempt to embarrass Zuma ahead of judgment in the Shaik trial.

The statement could also be seen as a precursor to the ANC bringing charges against Zuma internally for bringing the party into disrepute. This would allow Mbeki to topple Zuma as deputy president of the party.

The ANC is currently drawing up a set of guidelines on corruption. If these guidelines were tight enough, the party could charge Zuma even if he were not prosecuted by the state. Such a move would allow the easiest possible exit for Zuma, analysts said.

“The ANC is unlikely to withstand the spectacle of its deputy president on trial for corruption,” said Matshiqi.

The longer Mbeki drags, the more he dents the credibility of the ANC’s fight against corruption, he said.

Opposition parties this week attacked the president for his absence during the crisis.

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