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South Africa's ruling party has unveiled plans to sack President Jacob Zuma via a parliamentary no-confidence vote, hours after armed police raided the luxury home of his friends, the Gupta brothers, as part of an anti-corruption investigation.
Key points:
- ANC wants to replace Mr Zuma immediately with Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa
- Mr Zuma says ANC had not followed party procedures in trying to unseat him
- An elite police unit raided the compound of the Gupta business family linked to Zuma
In his first response to an avalanche of pressure from the African National Congress (ANC) for him to quit, Mr Zuma — who has been dogged by scandal throughout his political life — proclaimed his innocence and said he was being "victimised" by Nelson Mandela's former liberation movement.
"There's nothing I've done wrong," a relaxed but indignant Mr Zuma said during a nearly hour-long interview with the SABC, South Africa's state broadcaster.
"I don't think it's fair. I think it's unfair."
When asked point-blank if he would step aside, he avoided the question and continued to allege a lack of principle in moves by the party's National Executive Committee to oust him.
Mr Zuma did not comment on the police raids, which marked a dramatic tightening of the net around the 75-year-old and the political faction around him accused of milking state resources for their own ends.
Even if he refuses to quit, with the ANC backing an opposition-led no-confidence motion on Thursday, Mr Zuma appears to have run out of road after nine years in office marked by political tumult and economic stagnation.
He said he would make a formal statement later on Wednesday, although he gave no details.
In amendments to a no-confidence vote tabled by an opposition party, the ANC said Mr Zuma's "unreasonable, irrational and reckless" behaviour was a threat to state security and a danger to society.
ANC chief whip Jackson Mthembu said Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa, whose election as head of the ANC in December marked the beginning of the end of Mr Zuma's tenure, could be sworn in as head of state as early as Friday.
"After we have voted for the removal of the President of the Republic tomorrow — and depending on the availability of the Chief Justice — we will also elect a new president," Mr Mthembu told a news conference in Cape Town.
Mr Zuma's tenure has been marred by corruption scandals and the party wants him to end his second five-year term early so that it can shore up support ahead of 2019 elections.
The ANC will act if Mr Zuma does not respond by the end of Wednesday, said Paul Mashatile, the party's treasurer general.
"We can no longer keep South Africa waiting," Mr Mashatile said.
Mr Ramaphosa, who was elected as the ANC's new leader in December, has said the Government will do more to fight the corruption that has hurt the reputation of the ANC, which has led South Africa since the end of white minority rule in 1994.
An opposition-sponsored motion of no confidence in Mr Zuma had been scheduled for February 22, but opposition parties wanted the date to be moved to this week.
Police raid business family linked to Zuma
Also on Wednesday, an elite police unit raided the compound of the Gupta business family, which is suspected of using its connections to Mr Zuma to influence Cabinet appointments and win state contracts and has been a flashpoint for national anger over corruption in state enterprises.
Both the Guptas and Mr Zuma say they have done nothing wrong.
Three people were arrested in operations at various addresses, the SABC reported.
A judicial commission is preparing to investigate the alleged graft associated with the India-born Gupta brothers, who moved to South Africa around the time of the transition from white minority rule to democracy in the 1990s.
One of Mr Zuma's sons, Duduzane, had a business relationship with the Guptas.
As the Gupta-linked investigation proceeds, Mr Zuma could face corruption charges tied to an arms deal two decades ago.
South Africa's chief prosecutor is expected to make a decision on whether to prosecute Mr Zuma on the old charges, which were reinstated last year after being thrown out in 2009.
In another scandal, South Africa's top court ruled in 2016 that Mr Zuma violated the constitution following an investigation of multi-million-dollar upgrades to his private home using state funds. The President paid back some of the money.
The ruling party's decision to recall Mr Zuma was welcomed as "long overdue" by the foundation of Thabo Mbeki, a former president who was instructed by the ANC to quit in 2008 during a dispute with Mr Zuma, who was then party leader.
Mr Mbeki did not contest the order and Mr Zuma became president after elections the following year.
The move against Mr Zuma allows "the governing party to urgently and immediately attend to the many challenges and negative developments which have arisen during the years of the presidency of Mr Zuma," Mr Mbeki's foundation said.
Reuters/AP
Topics: world-politics, government-and-politics, south-africa
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