The leadership of South Africa’s ruling African National Congress (ANC) party went into a special meeting on Monday on President Jacob Zuma, who is mired in corruption allegations, with expectations high that a decision on his fate would be reached by the end of the day.
As the executive of ANC met in a hotel outside Pretoria, the stage seemed set for a decisive showdown between the 75-year-old leader’s allies and those members backing a swift transfer of power to Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa.
Mr. Zuma’s position has weakened since he was replaced as leader of the ANC by Ramaphosa in December though he still holds the state presidency.
Recalling the President
Speaking on Sunday, Mr. Ramaphosa, 65, who says he has held direct talks with Mr. Zuma over a transfer of power, said the meeting of the party’s executive committee would be aiming on Monday to “finalise” the situation.
The party executive has the authority to “recall” Mr. Zuma as head of state, although there is some domestic media speculation that he might try to resist such an order.
Mr. Zuma’s tenure as president officially runs until mid-2019 and he has not said in public whether he will step down voluntarily. Mr. Zuma’s whereabouts on Monday were not known. His spokesman could not be reached for comment.
Mr. Zuma is also facing a no-confidence motion in Parliament set for February 22, but has survived several similar attempts to oust him in the past.
Since becoming President in 2009, Mr. Zuma has been dogged by scandal. He is fighting the reinstatement of 783 counts of corruption over a 30 billion-rand (now $2.5 billion) government arms deal arranged in the late 1990s when he was deputy president.
Some within the ANC and the Opposition say the Gupta family, friends of Mr. Zuma, have used their links with the President to win state contracts and influence Cabinet appointments. The Guptas and Mr. Zuma himself have denied any wrongdoing.
The Bank of Baroda, which became embroiled with the Guptas, has announced plans to exit South Africa, the Central Bank said on Monday.
The far-left Economic Freedom Fighters party (EFF) Opposition, which brought the no-confidence motion, has demanded that it be held this week.
The Speaker of Parliament, Baleka Mbete, has said she is considering their application.
Meanwhile, a presidential correspondent of South Africa’s SABC state broadcaster reported on Monday that Mr. Zuma had agreed to resign as head of state citing sources, although the embattled leader’s spokesman quickly dismissed it as “fake news”.
Standing outside a meeting of the top leadership of the ruling ANC, SABC correspondent Tshepo Ikaneng cited sources inside the presidency as saying Mr. Zuma had agreed to stand aside after weeks of mounting pressure for him to quit.
