President Zuma resigns in address to the nation
SOUTH AFRICAN President Jacob Zuma has resigned in a televised address to the nation.
By stepping down, he avoided his almost certain ouster in a parliamentary vote scheduled for Thursday after years of corruption scandals.
Mr Zuma’s resignation came after the ruling African National Congress party instructed him to leave office by the end of Wednesday or face the motion of no confidence in parliament.
His departure ended a leadership crisis in one of Africa’s biggest economies and set the stage for ruling party MPs to elect acting president Cyril Ramaphosa, previously deputy president, as Mr Zuma’s successor.
“I have therefore come to the decision to resign as president of the republic with immediate effect,” said Mr Zuma, who added that he took the decision even though he disagreed with the ruling party’s demand that he quit.
Mr Zuma, 75, had said he was willing to resign but wanted to stay in office for several more months.
“Of course, I must accept that if my party and my compatriots wish that I be removed from office, they must exercise that right and do so in the manner prescribed by the constitution,” Mr Zuma said.
The former president was defiant in a television interview earlier on Wednesday, saying he had done nothing wrong.
“I’m being victimised here,” Mr Zuma told state broadcaster SABC.
He complained that Mr Ramaphosa and other ANC leaders had not given him clear reasons about why he should go.
“I need to be furnished on what I’ve done,” Mr Zuma said in the interview. Yesterday morning, police raided the home of prominent business associates of Mr Zuma who are accused of being at the centre of corruption scandals that have infuriated the country, hurt the ANC’s popularity and weakened the economy.
An elite police unit entered the compound of the Gupta family, which has been accused of using its connections to the president to influence cabinet appointments and win state contracts. The Guptas deny any wrongdoing.
Several people were arrested during police operations, South African media reported.
The ANC, which has led South Africa since the end of white mi- nority rule in 1994, had wanted Mr Zuma to end his second fiveyear term early so that it could build up support ahead of 2019 elections.
Zimbabwe’s main opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai has died at the age of 65, bringing an end to his long campaign to lead his country.
Elias Mudzuri, a vice president of his Movement for Democratic Change party, said Mr Tsvangirai died on Wednesday evening in a Johannesburg hospital. He had been fighting colon cancer for two years.
Mr Tsvangirai was for years the most potent challenger to longtime ruler Robert Mugabe and even became prime minister in an uncomfortable coalition government.