S.Africa political deadlock as Zuma clings to power

The pro-Zuma New Age newspaper reported Friday that the president would gather his family at his residence in Pretoria this weekend to inform them of his decision.

Zuma’s wife Thobeka Madiba-Zuma posted a picture of the couple on Instagram on Friday, adding a defiant comment that warned against “picking a fight with someone who is not fighting you”.

Zuma, 75, who has been in office since 2009, has clung to power despite a string of corruption scandals, an economic slowdown and record unemployment.

His hold on the ANC was shaken when his chosen successor — his former wife Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma — narrowly lost out to Ramaphosa in a closely-fought race to be party leader in December.

Zuma faces several court cases, including action relating to 783 payments he allegedly received linked to an arms deal before he came to power.

– ANC loses lustre –

Many of the recent graft allegations are linked to the Guptas, a wealthy Indian business family accused of improperly winning government contracts and influencing cabinet appointments.

In 2007, the party pushed out then-president Thabo Mbeki over allegations of abuse of power.

Under Zuma, the ANC suffered its worst electoral setback since coming to power in 1994, winning less than 54 percent of the vote in municipal elections in 2016.

The Nelson Mandela Foundation, which promotes the legacy of South Africa’s anti-apartheid icon, has called for Zuma to go as he had “demonstrated that he is not fit to govern”.

Ramaphosa, 65, is a former trade unionist who led talks to end apartheid rule in the early 1990s and then became a multi-millionaire businessman before returning to politics.