Removing President Jacob Zuma from office as a solution to the party’s crisis will make many people happy but will tear the ANC apart‚ the party’s secretary-general‚ Gwede Mantashe‚ said on Thursday.

“We must not be adventurous in dealing with this issue and plunge our self into chaos. If we do that everybody will clap for us‚ everybody will be happy for us but the movement will be [torn] apart immediately.

 “The formation of Cope which we saw with the removal of President (Thabo) Mbeki will be like a Sunday picnic...we will have instant satisfaction and happiness but it will take us much longer to pick up the pieces of the movement. It will plunge the ANC in deeper crisis‚” Mantashe said.

He said the ANC was under siege‚ with many believing that the only solution to this challenge was for Zuma to step down.

He said this subject had been discussed many times in the ANC and the conclusion was that removing Zuma from office would tear the ANC apart.

Speaking on the first day of the National Union of Mineworkers’ two-day central committee meeting in Pretoria‚ Mantashe said it was known that should Zuma be removed‚ the ANC in KwaZulu-Natal would be split into two‚ in North West province there would be chaos and there would be disaster in the Free State province.

In dealing with the crisis at hand‚ Mantashe said the ANC had opted for a formula of investing in the building of the movement and working for a successful elective conference in December.

He said this included engaging in discussions that would help the party to restore confidence in the movement and elect a leadership that would instil confidence of society.