Tensions were rising in South Africa as the country’s beleaguered president refused to stand down.
But Jacob Zuma, whose tenure has been engulfed by corruption scandals, may face a fresh move to replace him tomorrow.
Mr Zuma is due to deliver a key national address later this week but has been engulfed by attempts to persuade him to stand aside before then.
Jacob Zuma, whose tenure has been engulfed by corruption scandals, may face a fresh move to replace him tomorrow
He is due to step down as the country’s head of state next year but many want him to leave now and are pushing for Cyril Ramaphosa, the new head of the African National Congress (ANC) party and the nation’s deputy president, to replace him.
But Zuma loyalists say the president should complete his second and final term in office, which would end when elections are held next year.
Scuffles erupted at the ANC headquarters in Johannesburg as the party met yesterday to discuss whether 75-year-old Zuma should stay in office.
A group of ruling party officials who met Monday called a meeting of the ANC’s national executive committee for Wednesday to discuss preparations for the speech and what it described as a governmental ‘transition,’ a reference to Zuma’s expected exit and replacement by Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa.
Many ruling party members want Ramaphosa, who replaced Zuma as party president in December and has talked tough on corruption, to become state president soon so that the party can try to recover lost popularity ahead of 2019 elections.
Members of the African National Congress (ANC) protested outside the party’s headquarters in downtown Johannesburg on Monday calling for President Jacob Zuma to step down
Critics of Zuma and supporters of the president scuffled outside party headquarters in Johannesburg on Monday.
The ANC, which was the main anti-apartheid movement for decades, has led South Africa since the end of white minority rule and drew moral standing from its association with Nelson Mandela, the country’s first black president. However, corruption scandals and mismanagement have sapped some support in recent years.
Zuma still commands a loyalist faction, including in his home province of KwaZulu-Natal, and two of the six ANC leaders who met him on Sunday have publicly backed him. However, many former supporters have abandoned him and commentators believe enough ruling party members might join the opposition to oust him in a parliamentary motion of no confidence scheduled on Feb. 22.