Jacob Zuma has finally succumbed to pressure and quit as President of South Africa after his own party ordered him to step down.
“I have to come to decision to resign with immediate effect,” he said late on Wednesday in Pretoria during alive address.
He admitted that he had not been “the epitome of perfection“, and that he did not fear leaving political office.
The ruling African National Congress party instructed Zuma to resign and threatened its lawmakers would vote to sack him via a no-confidence vote in parliament scheduled for Thursday if he did not resign before hand.
They cited President Zuma’s “unreasonable, irrational and reckless” behaviour, which they said was a threat to state security and a danger to society.
“It is my party that placed me the representative of the people. It is my party that availed me,” Zuma said in his speech from Union Buildings.
“Make no mistake, no leader should stay beyond the time the people they serve. No leader should seek an easy way out because they could face a life without the perks of political office.”
The South African Parliament will now elect Mr Zuma’s replacement.
Zuma, 75, who served as the country’s president since 2009, joined the ANC in 1958.
He is considered one of the party stalwarts, having served for 10 years on the Robben Island prison alongside freedom fighter Nelson Mandela and living in exile before returning to South Africa in 1990.
Despite being known for being an astute political operator, Zuma’s presidency was characterised by scandal and corruption allegations, making him the most controversial president since the end of apartheid.
It’s almost certain ANC Leader and Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa, 65, will be elected, due to the party’s dominance in parliament.
The ANC had been trying to push Zuma out for months. It dumped him as party president in December, narrowly electing Cyril Ramaphosa, a millionaire former union leader, over Zuma’s preferred successor, his ex-wife, Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma.
Ramaphosa defeated Zuma’s ex-wife to become leader of the party in the elections held in December.
“I fear no motion of no confidence nor impeachment, for they are the lawful mechanisms for the people of this beautiful country to remove their presidents, “ Zuma said during his speech.
He added: “I have 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.”
I wish him all the best…