Zuma may step down early in a deal to oust Gordhan

Johannesburg, March 30 

Jacob Zuma is considering offering to step down next year, at least 12 months before his term as South African president ends, under a deal with opponents in his ruling party that would see Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan leave office now, two senior party sources said.

Zuma is due to be replaced as leader of the African National Congress (ANC) at a party conference in December after serving his allocated two terms, but was expected to remain the country’s President until elections in 2019. Zuma’s spokesman did not respond to several calls for comment.

The offer appears intended as a way out of an impasse over the country’s leadership within the divided ANC, but may not be enough to satisfy opponents of Zuma, who want the President out early anyway and urgently want Gordhan to stay.

There is precedent for an ANC leader to leave the presidency early. Thabo Mbeki was removed by the ANC as South African president in 2008 after his time as party leader ended at the close of the previous year.

A split in the ANC deepened this week after Zuma ordered Gordhan to return from an investor roadshow in Britain, raising expectations of a cabinet reshuffle that markets fear will include Gordhan’s removal. Gordhan is viewed favourably by investors and the rand fell sharply when he was ordered home.

Zuma’s opponents have become increasingly vocal, and agreeing to stand aside early could help prevent a permanent split in the former liberation movement of Nelson Mandela, which last year suffered its worst result in local elections since it swept to power with the end of apartheid in 1994.

Some senior members of the ANC are pushing for Zuma’s departure now, applying pressure on him to find a compromise. “He must just go. We don’t need his ‘offers’. He must just go before destroying our country,” one senior ANC member, who had not heard of Zuma discussing stepping down, told Reuters.

Zuma has the authority to hire and fire ministers such as Gordhan, but if senior party figures openly criticise him or resign it would weaken his position in the party.

Gordhan’s removal is a key requirement in negotiations for Zuma’s faction. They also want to choose Zuma’s successor at the national conference in December, the sources say. — Reuters

Divided African National Congress 

• The African National Congress (ANC) has been experiencing one of its most difficult periods since the end of white-minority rule, and some analysts say President Jacob Zuma agreeing to leave early could heal some wounds
• Pravin Gordhan’s supporters are uncertain about agreeing to promises on which Zuma could later renege, the two sources close to the matter said
• Gordhan’s allies view him as a figure of stability and integrity who is managing a flatlining economy burdened by high government spending and at risk of being downgraded to “junk” status by credit ratings agencies
• South Africa remains starkly unequal 23 years after the end of apartheid with much of the wealth still in the hands of white people who make up 9 per cent of the population