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| Jacob Zuma |
South Africa's embattled President Jacob
Zuma has resigned after intense pressure from his own party.
In a televised statement he said he was
quitting with immediate effect but said he disagreed with his ANC party's
decision.
The ANC had told him to step down or
face a vote of no confidence in parliament.
The 75-year-old has been facing calls to
give way to Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa, the ANC's new leader.
Mr Zuma, who has been in power since
2009, faces numerous allegations of corruption.
Earlier on Wednesday, police swooped on
the Johannesburg home of the powerful and wealthy Gupta family with whom Mr
Zuma has close ties.
What
led up to Zuma's resignation?
A
meeting of the ANC's National Executive Committee had announced its decision to
recall Mr Zuma on Tuesday and gave him until the end of Wednesday to resign.
ANC
chief whip Jackson Mthembu then announced a parliamentary motion of
no-confidence for Thursday, with Mr Ramaphosa sworn in as president as soon as
possible after that.
Mr
Zuma's resignation capped a day of fast-moving events.
It
began with early morning police raids and arrests at the Johannesburg home of
his close associates, the wealthy, Indian-born Gupta family.
The
Guptas have been accused of using their close friendship with the president to
wield enormous political influence. Both parties deny all allegations of
wrongdoing.
The Guptas and their links to Zuma
Mr
Zuma made no reference to the raid when he held a lengthy, unannounced,
interview with national broadcaster SABC hours later.
But
he said he had done nothing wrong and saw no reason to stand down.
Jacob
Zuma's life in seven key dates
April
1942: Born into poverty in northern
KwaZulu-Natal, he is raised by his widowed mother and receives no formal
schooling
1959: Joins the ANC. He becomes an active member of its military
wing in 1962
August
1963: Aged 21, he is convicted of
conspiring to overthrow the apartheid government and imprisoned on Robben
Island, alongside Nelson Mandela, for 10 years
March
1990: After a period in exile, he
returns to South Africa when a ban on the ANC is lifted - he is elected to
chair the party four years later
June
1999: Five years after apartheid ends,
he becomes deputy president of South Africa - he loses the position in 2005
after being implicated in a fraud trial
April
2009: Two weeks after corruption charges
are dropped, Mr Zuma becomes president of South Africa
October
2017: The Supreme Court of Appeal rules
he must face 18 counts of corruption, fraud, racketeering and money laundering
When News Breaks Out, We Break In. (The 2014 Bloggies Finalist)
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