Jacob Zuma has resigned as South Africa’s President.
Mr. Zuma at a press conference on Thursday night, said his resignation takes immediate effect.
The 75-year-old has recently come under serious criticism by his party, the African National Congress (ANC).
His decision comes as a surprise to many as he had declared a few hours to that press conference in an SABC interview, that he will not yield to pressure to resign if he is not furnished with reasons for the resignation calls.
“I indicated to the top six [of the ANC] that what they have raised is not the first time. They have raised it in the NEC itself twice and nobody has ever been able to tell me what the issue is. The NEC themselves said that I must resign‚ and I find that very strange that I should do so because this is not the first time that they’ve said this‚” Zuma told the SABC’s Mzwandile Mbeje.
“It’s not a new matter. I need to be furnished with what is it that I have done and unfortunately nobody has been able to tell me what is it that I’ve done. There are processes in the ANC that need to be followed if I have been doing something wrong‚” he said.
But addressing the news conference later, Jacob Zuma said although he does not agree with the decision of the party, he will resign as a disciplined member.
“I resign as president of the republic with immediate effect….even though I disagree with the decision of the leadership of my organisation … I have always been a disciplined member of the organisation,” Zuma said.
“I’ve served the people of South Africa to the best of my ability. I am forever grateful that they trusted me with their highest office in the land, but when I accepted the deployment, I understood and undertook to subject myself to the supreme law of the land, the Constitution,” he said.
Jacob Zuma’s 9-year term as president has seen him survive seven votes of no confidence following various allegations of corruption and consequently, suggestions by some leaders of his party that his conducts were negatively affecting the party’s image could spell doom for it in subsequent elections.
But in his address, Zuma stressed that “I fear no motion of no confidence or impeachment. They are the lawful mechanisms for the people of this beautiful country to remove their president.”
Concluding his address, Zuma promised to continue to serve the country and the ANC.
“As I leave, I will continue to serve the people of South Africa as well as the ANC,” he said.
The ANC parliamentary caucus had agreed to support a motion for a vote of no confidence against Zuma on Thursday, after he initially refused to resign – despite being recalled by the ANC’s national executive committee on Tuesday.
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By: Jonas Nyabor/citifmonline.com/Ghana