Jacob Zuma speech postponed amid ANC crisis. By Jason Burke

By Dilip -
Jacob Zuma’s grip on power appeared to be weakening on Tuesday following the decision of parliamentary officials to delay a key national speech the embattled South African president was due to give this week. The unprecedented measure underlines the crisis within the ruling African National Congress as the party tries to manage an increasingly chaotic transfer of power from the incumbent president to his deputy and rival, Cyril Ramaphosa. Top party leaders will meet in Johannesburg on Wednesday and may ask Zuma, who is facing multiple charges of corruption, to resign.

The 75 year old veteran was scheduled to give the annual State of the Nation Address to parliament on Thursday. However the address has now been postponed, possibly by a week. “We decided to approach [President Jacob Zuma] to postpone the state of the nation address ... We need to create room for establishing a much more conducive atmosphere in parliament,” Baleka Mbete, the national assembly speaker, told reporters outside parliament in Cape Town. Mbete did not give a new date for the speech. A statement from the presidency later claimed Zuma had requested the delay.

Ralph Mathekga, a political analyst, said the postponement was deeply damaging to the ANC. “The ANC’s inability to manage the transition has resulted in the disruption of key institutions. There is no way Zuma can survive now but the question is the cost to the party,” Mathekga said. Senior ANC leaders met Zuma over the weekend to ask him to step down. Local media reported that the 75-year-old, who is battling corruption allegations, refused.

The ANC’s national executive committee, its top decision-making body, will meet on Wednesday to consider its next step. A decision is expected by late afternoon. One possibility is that Zuma will be ordered to resign by the NEC, though this may raise significant constitutional issues. According to ANC rules, all members – even elected officials – fulfil their functions according to the will of the party. His premature departure – Zuma’s second five-year term is due to expire next year – would consolidate the power of Ramaphosa, who was elected ANC leader in December and has been Zuma’s deputy since 2014, will become president, in accordance with the constitution.
Zuma had led the ANC since 2007 and has been South Africa’s president since 2009. His tenure in both posts has been marred by a series of corruption scandals that have undermined the image and legitimacy of the party that led South Africans to freedom in 1994.

The Nelson Mandela Foundation, which promotes the legacy of South Africa’s anti-apartheid icon, made a rare public intervention in politics on Tuesday, calling for Zuma to be ousted as he had “demonstrated that he is not fit to govern”. In a damning statement, it said there was “overwhelming evidence that systematic looting by patronage networks linked to President Zuma have betrayed the country Nelson Mandela dreamed of.” The crisis has revealed the deep personal and ideological splits within the ANC... read more:

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/feb/06/jacob-zuma-anc-south-africa-president


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