S. African Presidency concerned over "public attacks" on Zuma by mine bosses

South African Presidency said Thursday that it was seriously concerned about the relentless public attacks on President Jacob Zuma by leaders in the gold mining sector.

"While the Presidency respects the rights of citizens and leaders to freedom of speech, the business sector has many avenues to raise whatever concerns and issues it has with government and/or its leadership," presidential spokesperson Bongani Ngqulunga said in a statement.

The Presidency issued the statement after AngloGold Ashanti Chairperson Sipho Pityana called for South Africans to urge Zuma to resign.

Pityana labelled Zuma as South Africa's "sponsor-in-chief of corruption" in a speech at a mining conference in Johannesburg on Wednesday.

Earlier, Sibanye Gold CEO Neal Froneman told Bloomberg that Zuma "has to go."

"Any solid investor, any solid company is founded on good governance, and what we have in South Africa at the moment is very poor governance," Froneman said.

In response to the attacks, Ngqulunga said Zuma values open dialogue and interaction with all sectors in the society.

"However, such dialogue is more helpful if it takes place within the bounds of human decency and decorum and upholds respect for key institutions and in our country," Ngqulunga said.

He said channels of communication between business and government are open and engagements take place continuously in a healthy and constructive manner. Enditem