Mr Ramaphosa, who heads South Africa’s governing party, said both he and Mr Zuma understood the need for a speedy resolution.

He said the pair aim to conclude talks on the president’s future within days.

It is being seen as the first confirmation that Mr Zuma will step down shortly.

The 75-year-old president is facing extensive corruption charges after a turbulent nine years in power.

He has faced increasing pressure to quit since December, when Mr Ramaphosa replaced him as leader of the ruling African National Congress (ANC).

Mr Ramaphosa said direct talks were an opportunity to reach an agreement without spreading discord or division.

The ANC said they had been “fruitful and constructive discussions”.

An urgent Wednesday evening meeting of the party’s top leadership – which has the power to unseat Mr Zuma – has been pushed back to 17 February.

Opposition parties are demanding a vote of no-confidence to remove the president.

The Nelson Mandela Foundation has also urged him to step down.

South Africa had seen “systematic looting” under Mr Zuma’s rule, and he “must go sooner rather than later”, it said in a statement.

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Source: BBC

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Instead the ANC released a statement saying it had held “fruitful and constructive discussions” with him.

Mr Zuma is under growing pressure from members of own party to resign amid corruption allegations.

Earlier on Tuesday, parliament took the extraordinary step of postponing Thursday’s state of the nation address.

South Africa’s Times Live website quoted unnamed sources as saying Mr Zuma was prepared to quit, if the right terms can be negotiated.

The formal National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting has been set for 17 and 18 February, the ANC’s party leader, Cyril Ramaphosa, said in a statement.

The high-level group has the power to remove the president from office without his agreement.

Opposition parties are demanding that a vote of no-confidence be held to remove him.

Mr Zuma, 75, was replaced as party leader by Mr Ramaphosa, his 65-year-old deputy, in December. Mr Ramaphosa is set to succeed him as president.

Earlier on Tuesday, the Nelson Mandela Foundation urged Mr Zuma to step down.

South Africa had seen “systematic looting” under Mr Zuma’s rule, and he “must go sooner rather than later”, the foundation said in a statement.

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Source: BBC

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Mr Ramaphosa told a large rally in the south-eastern city East London that the party had become deeply divided through factionalism, patronage and corruption.

He was elected to replace President Jacob Zuma as party head last month.

But Mr Ramaphosa did not address calls to immediately replace the president, who was booed as he took his seat.

Mr Zuma’s term in office is not scheduled to end until elections in 2019.

However, the ANC has seen public support decline during his second term, amid a weakening economy and allegations of corruption.

Mr Ramaphosa was addressing a rally to mark 106 years of the ANC.

The BBC’s Andrew Harding says the new ANC leader did not criticise Mr Zuma by name but the implication was clear when he condemned corrupt families and individuals.

The suspicion remains, our correspondent says, that Cyril Ramaphosa and his allies in the ANC may soon move against South Africa’s embattled leader.

President Zuma has been embroiled in a series of corruption scandals – he denies any wrongdoing.

The leadership battle caused fierce political infighting, raising fears of a party split before the 2019 election.

In his speech Mr Ramaphosa vowed to “confront people who are trying to divide the ANC”, calling for unity, renewal and a change of culture.

He urged “the creation of a united, non-racial, non-sexist, democratic, prosperous and equitable society”.

Much of the speech was targeted at corruption and the economy.

He said he wanted people in the ANC who sought “no advantage for themselves or their families”, adding: “We are going to confront corruption in all its forms. Investigation of those responsibility will be given top priority.”

He issued a plea for foreign investment and vowed to build “an economy which benefits the people of our country as a whole rather than just benefit a few privileged individuals and families”.

Mr Ramaphosa vowed to pursue the “expropriation of land without compensation” as agreed at the party conference.

But he cautioned it would be done in a manner that “does not impede economic development and agricultural production”.

The ANC has been under pressure to redress disparities which mean white farmers still own much of the best land in South Africa, more than two decades after the end of apartheid.

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Source: BBC

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The main candidates are the current deputy president, Cyril Ramaphosa, and former cabinet minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, President Zuma’s ex-wife.

Whoever wins is likely to succeed Mr Zuma as South African president.

But their bitter leadership battle has raised fears that the ANC could split before national elections in 2019.

President Zuma can remain head of state until those elections. He has been in office since 2009 and South Africa limits the presidency to two five-year terms.

As delegates gathered for the four-day conference in Johannesburg, Mr Zuma, who faces multiple corruption allegations, has urged the party to unite behind the eventual winner.

The leadership contest is expected to be a close one, with legal challenges a possibility.

President Zuma is backing his 68-year-old former wife, Ms Dlamini-Zuma, a veteran politician in her own right who has been critical of the enduring power of white-owned businesses.

Mr Ramaphosa, 65, has spoken out strongly against state corruption and has the backing of the business community.

Recent news that he had a modest lead in the polls was quickly reflected by a rise in the financial markets.

President Zuma, 75, has been the focus of much controversy and he has survived several votes of no confidence in parliament.

He faces numerous corruption allegations but denies any wrongdoing.

More than 5,000 delegates are taking part in the four-day ANC elective conference at the Expo Centre in Johannesburg.

The first major engagement for the new leader will be the ANC anniversary celebrations on 8 January.

The ANC has governed South Africa since the first democratic election more than 20 years ago.

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Source: BBC

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The demonstrations came after Mr Zuma’s sacking of a respected finance minister, which led to the country’s credit rating being cut to junk status.

The move added pressure to South Africa’s already embattled economy.

But supporters of Mr Zuma also turned out to defend the president.

This week Mr Zuma survived calls by powerful groups allied to the governing ANC for him to go. He also got the backing of a major decision-making body within the party.

He is not due to leave office until 2019 when his second five-year term comes to an end.

One of the immediate sources of controversy was last week’s cabinet reshuffle which saw the removal of, among others, Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan.

In Johannesburg, there was a heavy police presence as protesters planned to converge near the ANC headquarters.

Hundreds of veterans of the ANC’s armed anti-apartheid struggle and members of the ruling party’s youth wing also gathered outside its headquarters at Luthuli House to protect the building.

Supporters of Mr Zuma told the BBC’s Milton Nkosi that they came out to promote the president’s policies. They said that Mr Zuma was promising radical socio-economic change.

One supporter said that it would be wrong to force regime change in South Africa, adding that such a move would be “going back to the dark ages of apartheid”.

Police fired tear gas and rubber bullets at protesters in one part of Johannesburg, local media are reporting.

Crowds later gathered outside a compound belonging to the wealthy Gupta family, which has ties to the president, in Johannesburg’s affluent Saxonwold suburb.

Pictures shared on social media on Friday showed large crowds assembling in Church Square in Pretoria, despite confusion over whether demonstrations in the capital are permitted by law.

Police said on Thursday that marches in Pretoria were illegal because they had not been granted permission by city authorities. But this was later overturned by a magistrate.

Protesters in the capital later marched to the seat of government, the Union Buildings, waving placards that read: “South Africa is not for sale.”

The BBC’s Karen Allen, in Pretoria, said that despite a heavy police presence, the protest there went ahead peacefully.

In Durban, banners stating “Jacob Zuma must step down” were draped from buildings as part of nationwide demonstrations. Protesters marched through the city with their faces painted, carrying messages of “downgrade Zuma, not South Africa” in reference to the country’s amended credit rating.

The government, which has appealed for peace during the countrywide protests, tweeted that the laws in South Africa are also there to “protect the right of those who would not like to participate in protest action”.

Earlier this week, a major decision-making body within the ruling ANC party discarded a complaint against Mr Zuma that he had failed to consult executives before reshuffling his cabinet.

The move to drop the finance minister angered both Mr Zuma’s opponents and allies, causing a rift in the ruling ANC party, which has governed South Africa since 1994.

It left some in the ANC leadership questioning whether Mr Zuma should remain as president.

Key ANC allies, the South African Communist Party (SACP) and the main trades union federation Cosatu, joined in the calls for him to go.

But the party’s National Working Committee (NWC), discussing the cabinet reshuffle, later gave the president its backing.

Mr Zuma has been described in local media as the Teflon Don because of his survival skills following the acceptance of his explanation for his controversial sacking of the finance minister.

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Ndileka Mandela, 52, has been told she should instead help revive the party.

She had earlier stated she no longer believed the ANC represented the values of her illustrious relative.

Ms Mandela said the party was neglecting to care for the poor.

“I will not be voting for something that does not resonate with me anymore, and does not resonate for what granddad and his comrades fought for,” she told News 24 South Africa..

Ms Mandela, a nurse, runs a Mandela family foundation to tackle rural poverty.

She said the ANC’s recent period in power had left her feeling despondent, especially when it came to its record in wasting public money.

Ms Mandela identified the country’s social care crisis and its treatment of psychiatric patients as “tipping points” that added to her loss of faith in the ANC.

But her brother was quick to urge her to re-think.

“I call on you… to reconsider your decision,” News 24 reported Mandla Mandela as writing in an open letter to her.

“Please do not throw the baby out with the bathwater. What we are dissatisfied with in the ANC, it is our obligation to set right.

“The ANC has been the heartbeat of our family for many years. One can only imagine the many crises and challenges our grandfather… lived through since joining the ANC in 1944.”

Mr Mandela exhorted his sister to remain within the ANC, breathe new life into it and “re-inculcate the values and principles that secured our democracy”.

His letter on Friday described his sister’s move as “heart-wrenching”.

But Ms Mandela seems unlikely to change her mind.

“I get very incensed with people who think they knew my grandfather more than his own family did,” she said on Friday.

“Nobody can actually articulate how granddad felt across the board, not just as a politician but as a father, as a family man. So you can’t tell me he would be disappointed.”

The ANC has held power in South Africa since Nelson Mandela was elected president in the country’s first democratic elections in 1994.

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Source: BBC

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