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Johannesburg - Greenpeace director and Future SA leader Kumi Naidoo on Tuesday said they were disappointed with the "timidness in which a crook has been handled", after the ANC's national executive committee (NEC) announced it would recall President Jacob Zuma.
Future SA held a press briefing shortly after ANC secretary general Ace Magashule announced the NEC's decision to the media at the party's headquarters at Luthuli House.
The decision was taken during a 13-hour long NEC meeting that ended in the early hours of Tuesday morning.
Magashule said he went with deputy secretary general Jessie Duarte to inform Zuma about the decision on Tuesday morning.
Facing questions by the media at Luthuli House on why the ANC had decided to recall Zuma, Magashule said the party, "did not take these decisions because comrade Jacob Zuma has done anything wrong".
READ: Zuma has done nothing wrong but he must go – Magashule
However, Naidoo took issue with Magashule's statement.
"It is not good enough that Magashule delivers the message on behalf of the NEC that says Zuma did not do anything wrong. You would need an encyclopaedia for the number of things Zuma did wrong."
Naidoo added that Magashule's judgement of what was wrong and what was right was either highly faulty, or he was trying to protect himself from allegations of corruption, which he has been implicated in his home province, the Free State.
'Ramaphosa must flex his muscle'
Future SA convener Mandla Nkomfe warned that the price of Zuma's presidency will be South Africa's debt for a long time.
While Future SA recognised the call by opposition leaders for an early election, Nkomfe said civil society should rather attend to the country's more immediate crisis.
"Early election is not a priority of civil society at this stage," he said.
Nkomfe said civil society welcomed the 'belated' action by the NEC but demanded that ANC president Cyril Ramaphosa go much further.
Future SA demands that ministers implicated in state capture, including Malusi Gigaba, David Mahlobo, Mosebenzi Zwane, Lynne Brown and Des van Rooyen, be immediately removed.
Zuma is expected to make a decision on whether he will resign on Wednesday.
