South Africa’s ruling African National Congress (ANC) Party has reportedly called on President Jacob Zuma to resign or face forced removal.
Local television channel eNCA, declining to name its sources, said on Saturday that the ANC’s National Executive Committee (NEC) had unanimously reached the decision to present the two options to Zuma.
Asked about report, an ANC spokeswoman said, “We can’t confirm rumors of things that we don’t know [about]. The NEC has issued a statement on the totality of discussions yesterday.”
The newly elected NEC made no mention of Zuma’s possible early exit in the statement it issued after meeting for the first time on January 18 and 19 under the party’s new leader, Cyril Ramaphosa.
Last month, the ANC, which has governed South Africa since 23 years ago, elected Ramaphosa as the party’s head with 2,440 votes to the 2,261 votes garnered by Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, a former cabinet minister and Zuma’s ex-wife.
The victory put Ramaphosa in a strong position to succeed Zuma — whose reign has been plagued by corruption scandals and economic slowdown — in the 2019 presidential elections. Zuma denied the accusations against him.
Ramaphosa, a former trade union leader who became a businessman and is now one of the richest people in South Africa, has vowed to fight corruption and revitalize the country’s economy.
Source: Presstv