The African National Congress
(ANC) has decided to sack Jacob Zuma as President of South Africa, NAN quotes a
senior official as saying.
The decision was said to have
been reached by the ruling party’s national executive after a marathon meeting
held to determine Zuma’s fate.
The ANC reportedly held 13 hours
of tense deliberations and one face-to-face meeting between Zuma and his
presumed successor, deputy president Cyril Ramaphosa.
Zuma has been living on borrowed
time since Ramaphosa, a union leader once tipped as Mandela’s pick to take over
the reins, was elected as head of the 106-year-old ANC in December, narrowly
defeating Zuma’s ex-wife, Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma.
In spite of the damning decision
to order Zuma’s “recall” – ANC-speak for ‘remove from office’ – domestic media
have speculated that the 75-year-old might yet defy the party’s wishes, forcing
it into the indignity of having to unseat him in parliament.
Shortly before midnight, the SABC
state broadcaster said Zuma had been told in person by Ramaphosa that he had 48
hours to resign.
A senior party source later told
Reuters Zuma had made clear that he was going nowhere.
“Ramaphosa went to speak with
him,” the source was quoted as saying, adding that when Ramaphosa returned to
the ANC meeting in a Pretoria hotel, the discussions were tense and difficult.
“We decided to recall Zuma. He
hasn’t been told yet.”
The ANC said it would hold a
media briefing to reveal the results of the meeting.
South Africa’s economy has
stagnated under Zuma’s nine-year tenure, with banks and mining firms reluctant
to invest because of policy uncertainty and rampant corruption.
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