Zuma refuses to resign: report
After meeting with the ANC’s national executive committee on Sunday (4 February), president Jacob Zuma has reportedly refused to voluntarily resign from his post.
Business Day reported that given the choice to resign or face a recall from office by the party – Zuma elected the latter.
A special sitting of the National Working Committee (NWC) will be convened on Monday to take a decision on the way forward.
Depending on the NWC’s decision a special NEC will then be held as the working committee alone cannot take a decision to recall or remove the president.
While the decision to recall Zuma lies with the working committee, the ANC may not get the opportunity to follow internal processes after speaker of the national assembly, Baleka Mbete, confirmed that another vote of no confidence against the president will be heard in parliament.
Mbete said that she had decided to schedule a requested motion of no confidence in the president for 22 February 2018, meaning that Zuma is still expected to deliver his state of the nation address on Thursday (8 February).
While a vote of no confidence would provide the ANC with a key opportunity to show its position on Zuma, there has been mixed signals from the party about the president’s fate.
New ANC president Cyril Ramaphosa has reiterated multiple times that he has been engaging with Zuma in an attempt to iron out a smooth transition – while secretary general Ace Magashule and deputy Jessie Duarte are adamant Zuma’s early exit is not on the formal agenda.
Talk of an imminent departure in January led the rand to its strongest levels in more than two and a half years. In early trade on Monday, the local unit again tested a push below R12.00 (R12.03) against the dollar.
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