South Africa’s Ramaphosa vows to complete transition
JOHANNESBURG — South Africa’s deputy president consolidated his control of the government on Sunday, promising to conclude a power transition in which he would succeed President Jacob Zuma, who faces widespread calls to resign because of corruption allegations.
Standing on the balcony of Cape Town’s pillared City Hall, Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa delivered what amounted to a state of the nation address of the kind that Zuma was unable to give as scheduled last week because of the leadership crisis in South Africa, which has one of the continent’s biggest economies.
Ramaphosa, Zuma’s expected successor, set out a policy agenda for the year in his nationally televised speech, which marked the beginning of commemorations of the centenary of Nelson Mandela’s birth on July 18, 1918. Then he referred to the topic that people really wanted to hear about — his confidential negotiations in recent days with Zuma over the president’s exit after a scandal-marred tenure.
The ruling ANC party’s national executive committee will discuss Zuma’s fate at a meeting Monday “and because our people want this matter to be finalized, the national executive committee will be doing precisely that,” Ramaphosa said.
He said his discussions with Zuma had to be conducted with “care and purpose” and with the aim of uniting South Africans. The political opposition criticized the private talks, saying the 75-year-old president may have been pressing for an “exit package” in exchange for his resignation.