Johannesburg - To resign or face impeachment - these are the only options available - and either way - Jacob Zuma's days as South Afric...
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Johannesburg - To resign or face impeachment - these are the only options available - and either way - Jacob Zuma's days as South Africa's premier are officially over - just like his former Zimbabwean counterpart - Robert Mugabe who faced a similar dilemma during a military takeover in November 2017.
While under house arrest, Mugabe persistently resisted to tender his resignation - leaving the nation at tenterhooks regarding his future, with a tainted four decades peeping into his reign.Derick Matsengarwodzi
It only took the threat of a parliamentary recall, that the former African strongman finally coiled into retirement.
What followed is now history - but after Mugabe's final goodbye - Zimbabweans celebrated another Independence day - and this could be reincarnated in South Africa as the ANC contemplates replacing Zuma with Cyril Ramaphosa.
Reports indicate that, the ANC had planned to dump President Jacob Zuma as the head of state after a cancelled national executive committee meeting, according to ANC treasurer-general Paul Mashatile.
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| Jacob Zuma and Robert Mugabe |
And just like in Zimbabwe, the ANC is suggesting a 'transition period' - something Mugabe could not take lightly.
"On Sunday evening, President Zuma says to us, 'What do you guys mean by transition?’ He said this is a strange word that you guys have just coined. And we said to him it’s handing over power from you to Cyril," Mashatile told delegates, who burst into laughter.
“President Zuma basically said to us: 'I'm not going anywhere, I'm not convinced by you guys so I’m not going to resign. You can go back and report to your national working committee and the NEC that I said I’m not resigning’,” Mashatile said.
But while Mugabe was awarded immunity and protection, Zuma has no similar luxury, after Ramaphosa told the party's Parliamentary caucus that immunity from prosecution for President Jacob Zuma is not part of their 'transition' discussions, assuring them that the talks would be concluded soon.
"Immunity from prosecution is not even on the table. It is not in my powers to give him that. He [Ramaphosa] was emphatic that he could not engage in anything unlawful, or engage with Zuma on anything that is not within the jurisdiction of the executive. He said he couldn’t venture into that space," an MP said.
"He said they were now finding each other on transition, which of course we interpreted as the axing of Zuma," another MP said.
In Harare, the G40 cabal fronted by Grace Mugabe had infiltrated all facets of the ruling Zanu-PF party, thereby causing fissures - and it was deemed a threat to the future of the party during elections - the same is feared in ANC.
"People are beginning to question his credibility and intentions here. If we don’t get rid of Zuma now we will pay for it come election time," said one supporter who campaigned for Ramaphosa.
Many who championed for Mugabe's removal feared the worst - top of the list being corruption, a comatose economy among other excesses - and Zuma is guilty of all of the above.
“He has humiliated South Africa more than anyone else. His removal will allow us to un-humiliate ourselves. He [Zuma] wanted to drag the country into civil war. It's important for this country to make sure people aren't going to lose lives, he [Zuma] doesn’t care. Cyril wants to deal with this in a way that people don’t lose lives,” said a source.
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