South Africa’s ruling African National Congress will order President Jacob Zuma to resign, according to people familiar with the decision, signalling an end to his scandal-hit rule and paving the way for Cyril Ramaphosa to take power.
The ANC’s national executive committee decided to sack Mr Zuma after a marathon 13-hour meeting into the early hours of Tuesday that capped weeks of intrigue and political paralysis, as the president resisted pressure from party leaders to stand aside. His term has been plagued by corruption scandals, a stagnating economy and sliding support for the ANC.
The party has been gripped by a power struggle since Mr Ramaphosa, the deputy president, defeated Mr Zuma’s preferred candidate to be elected the ANC’s leader in December. Supporters of Mr Ramaphosa insisted that the president resign immediately to allow his successor to begin the task of turning around Africa’s most industrialised economy, root out graft and revive the fortunes of the ANC ahead of general elections next year.