Zuma told to quit by midnight tomorrow or face sack
Ultimatum comes after nine-hour meeting of ANC chiefs resolves to ‘recall’ South African president
SOUTH AFRICAN president Jacob Zuma must resign by midnight tomorrow or be sacked at a no-confidence debate in parliament later this week, Cyril Ramaphosa, the deputy president, has told a meeting of African National Congress leaders.
After a nine-hour meeting, the ANC’S 86-member National Executive Committee (NEC) agreed to “recall” Mr Zuma from his position. Mr Ramaphosa then left the meeting at midnight and took the ultimatum to Mr Zuma at his official residence in Pretoria, according to the South African Broadcasting Corporation and the Cape Times.
He told Mr Zuma, whose term as head of state is not up until next year, that if he does not resign within 48 hours he will be ousted by parliament, where the ANC has a 62 per cent majority. All South Africa’s 13 opposition party MPS would vote with the ANC.
Earlier, in a long and politically charged day, South Africa’s opposition parties called for parliament to be dissolved and early elections to be held while the ANC remained locked in talks on whether or not to recall Mr Zuma.
The president has faced a barrage of calls to step down in recent weeks. Mr Ramaphosa had been negotiating with Mr Zuma over the terms of an early exit for days before he called a special meeting of the NEC, including several cabinet ministers loyal to Mr Zuma.
In a speech on Sunday afternoon, Mr Ramaphosa said the matter of Mr Zuma’s leaving office would be “finalised” during the meeting.
Earlier in the day, the SABC, South Africa’s public broadcaster, reported that Mr Zuma had agreed to step down, but the president’s spokesman denied the reports, calling them “fake news”.
As talks continued, several opposition parties issued a joint ultimatum demanding that a vote of no-confidence against Mr Zuma, currently scheduled for Feb 22, be moved forward to this week, so that parliament be dissolved and that fresh elections be held.
“To think that when Zuma leaves our problems are going to disappear, that is disingenuous,” said Julius Malema, head of the radical Left Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF).
“The problem is not Zuma. The problem is not Cyril. The problem is the ANC. So the ANC must be voted out.”
Several cabinet ministers loyal to Mr Zuma and who were in the difficult NEC meeting are likely to lose their jobs when Mr Ramaphosa becomes president of South Africa, either after Mr Zuma’s resignation or following his departure via the vote of no-confidence.