Pressure on Zuma to resign as leader
Calls coming from his party, opposition
JOHANNESBURG • South Africa’s main opposition party heavily criticized the ruling African National Congress’s attempts to force Jacob Zuma out of power Tuesday as the nation waited on an ultimatum for the president to step down.
Zuma’s own party decided to recall him from the nation’s top job.
However, Mmusi Maimane, leader of the Democratic Alliance, said: “Unless he tenders his resignation, this recall is not worth the paper it is printed on.”
He called instead for a motion of no confidence to be brought forward.
South Africa’s scandal-hit president has faced a barrage of calls to step down in recent weeks from inside and outside the ANC, culminating in the recall.
Despite extensive talks between ANC leaders and Zuma about the his future, the two parties were unable to agree on a timeline for his departure, said Ace Magashule, the ANC’s secretary general.
Believing the matter of Zuma’s departure required greater “urgency,” the ANC’s national executive committee decided during a 13-hour meeting on Monday to recall the president, and now waits to hear whether Zuma will abide by its instructions.
“We are expecting the president to respond tomorrow,” Magashule said on Tuesday.
If Zuma resigns, Cyril Ramaphosa, the deputy president who was recently elected leader of the ANC, will immediately become acting president, and is widely expected to be voted in as the new leader by parliament in the coming weeks.
If Zuma digs in his heels and does not step down, he is likely to face a vote of no confidence. If he loses that motion, he and his cabinet would be forced to step down, and Baleka Mbete, the National Assembly speaker, would step in as acting president, with Ramaphosa likely to be installed later.
Zuma’s presidency has been dogged by corruption scandals, slow economic growth and record unemployment that have fuelled public anger in Africa’s most developed country.