ANC spokesman under fire for Zuma comments

JOHANNESBURG - The ANC on Tuesday distanced itself from comments attributed to it on the controversy surrounding President Jacob Zuma's assets, saying its spokesman Brian Sokutu was in "breach of protocol".

"The comments attributed to Brian Sokutu by Sapa were made in total breach of ANC protocol and also without any consultation with the ANC leadership," said ANC national spokesman Jackson Mthembu in a statement.

"The comments therefore do not reflect the standpoint of the ANC on this matter."

The ANC would use its disciplinary procedures to deal with "any breach of protocol" by Sokutu.

"We regret the inconvenience caused to President Zuma and his family through these comments."

The party believed government and Parliament were adequately equipped to deal with the matter of Zuma's declaration of interests.

Sokutu earlier told Sapa that the ANC regretted that their presidential choice Jacob Zuma missed the deadline to declare his assets to Parliament, but said the circumstances needed to be understood.

"We have a special case, in that we are dealing with a president who has a large family and therefore it is not easy," he said.

This was after the revelation that Zuma had missed the 60 day deadline to declare his personal interests.

"We regret the fact that the deadline wasn't met but as I said before it has to be understood," said Sokutu.

"What you have to understand is the fact that the president has more than one wife and therefore it is a different set of circumstances and we are asking people to really respect that. He hasn't said that he is not going to comply."

Zuma, who has three wives and reportedly 20 children, is being guided by lawyers on the matter, after it was initially reported that his office felt there was ambiguity in the law on the declaration of his assets.

Political analysts have insisted that the law -- the Executive Members' Ethics Act and the Executive Ethics Code -- is clear on the matter, and that he does have to declare. The Democratic Alliance has asked the Public Protector to investigate the matter.

The fact that Zuma put together a legal team on the matter proved that he did not consider himself above the law, said Sokutu.

"We are as the ANC satisfied and confident that this process will be put in place and sorted out. A team was announced by the presidential spokesman, therefore as the ANC we think that he has shown no disregard for the law."

The team includes attorney Michael Hulley who managed Zuma's rape and corruption defence.

"As the presidency has said, that one of the provisions of the law deals with his family and he has a big family and this is something that has to be taken into account.

"It's not something that the opposition parties want -- that you can just push and get it over as an overnight thing."

By attending court during his rape trial, where he was acquitted, and the run up to his corruption trial, Zuma had shown he was "committed to complying with the rule of law".

"What we are saying with regards to disclosure -- he doesn't have one spouse -- he's got many spouses -- and therefore it's a big family and he wants to be thorough." Sokutu had said the party would "certainly be worried if he was not doing anything about it".

- Sapa