Breaking: Jacob Zuma resigns as South Africa's president
Jacob Zuma, South Africa's embattled and
controversial president, has announced his resignation in a televised
address to the nation.
"I have to come to decision to resign with immediate effect," he said late on Wednesday in Pretoria.
Zuma's resignation followed weeks of intense public pressure to step down amid longstanding corruption allegations.
The ruling African National Congress (ANC) formally
asked Zuma, 75, to resign on Tuesday. He initially refused, saying he
did not understand why he was being told to step down.
The party later announced plans to hold a no-confidence vote against him on Thursday in parliament.
"It is my party that placed me the representative of the
people. It is my party that availed me," Zuma said in his speech from
Union Buildings.
"Make no mistake, no leader should stay beyond the time the
people they serve. No leader should seek an easy way out because they
could face a life without the perks of political office."
Corruption allegations
Zuma, who served as the country's president since 2009, joined the ANC in 1958.
He is considered one of the party stalwarts, having served
for 10 years on the Robben Island prison alongside freedom fighter
Nelson Mandela and living in exile before returning to South Africa in
1990.
Despite being known for being an astute political operator, Zuma's presidency
was characterised by scandal and corruption allegations, making him the
most controversial president since the end of apartheid.
"South Africa will look back and wonder how we allowed a president so reprehensible to last so long in office," Sizwe Mpofu-Walsh, author of Democracy and Delusion: 10 Myths in South African Politics, told Al Jazeera.
South Africa's Constitutional Court ruled last December that
parliament had failed to hold Zuma accountable over the alleged use of
state funds to upgrade his rural home in Nkandla.
That followed an earlier court decision in April 2016 that
found Zuma had "failed to uphold, defend and respect the Constitution".
It resulted in an impeachment vote that same month, but the motion failed to pass when parliament, where the ANC holds a majority, voted 233 to 143 in Zuma's favour.
Zuma was also found to have given favour to an Indian immigrant family known as the Guptas, in what became known as the state capture scandal.
It was reported that the family wielded such influence over Zuma that they were able to decide who got appointed to the cabinet.
Zuma has always claimed his innocence and some South Africans still defend him, saying he was targeted unfairly in a system that is underpinned by corruption.
"When it comes to the allegations of state capture,
the state was captured a long time ago. And here we are focusing only on
Zuma. There is a broader perspective one needs to take when looking at
state capture," Wandile Giwa, a 26-year-old student, told Al Jazeera.
Joyful response expected
But most South Africans are expected to be overjoyed by Zuma's ouster.
The call for Zuma to step down reached a crescendo in early
February when the Nelson Mandela Foundation released a statement calling
for him to go immediately.
"President Zuma has abused the trust of South
Africans. He must go, sooner rather than later. Time is of the essence,"
the foundation said.
The court rulings heightened pressure on new ANC head Cyril Ramaphosa, who was elected party leader in December 2017, to force Zuma to step down as the party looks to repair its reputation.
But Zuma had survived several no-confidence votes in parliament and until early February believed he would survive another.
The tide changed, however, and several of his allies abandoned him.
Ramaphosa has been clear that he had no intention of
humiliating Zuma and the ANC itself reportedly wanted him to bow out on
his own, rather than drag out the process.
Still, Zuma leaves the ANC deeply divided and analysts say
the party faces a serious challenge to repair its reputation in his
wake.
"Ramaphosa will have a hard time fixing a party that faces indecision and disagreement over its values at every level," said Ebrahim Fakir, an independent political analyst.
Source: Al Jazeera
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