South African police raid Gupta home, ANC to sack Zuma via parliament

Private Security agents escort a car into the compound of the controversial business family Gupta in Johannesburg on February 14, 2018. South African police on February 14 raided the Johannesburg house of the Gupta family. AFP PHOTO | WIKUS DE WET  

By REUTERS

More by this Author

Summary

• Raid marked a dramatic escalation in the pressure on Zuma and the political faction around him accused of milking state resources for their own ends.
• Zuma, 75, denies any wrongdoing and it remains unclear whether he will throw in the towel or dig in deeper.
• The speed of Zuma’s demise after two weeks of dithering by the ANC has stunned South Africa.

The ANC on Wednesday unveiled plans to sack South African President Jacob Zuma via a parliamentary no-confidence vote, hours after armed police raided the luxury home of his friends the Gupta brothers, investigating corruption allegations.

The raid marked a dramatic escalation in the pressure on Zuma and the political faction around him accused of milking state resources for their own ends. Zuma, 75, denies any wrongdoing and it remains unclear whether he will throw in the towel or dig in deeper.

However, with the ruling African National Congress (ANC) backing an opposition-led no-confidence motion likely to be heard on Thursday, Zuma appears to have run out of road after nine years in office dogged by scandal and economic stagnation.

ANC chief whip Jackson Mthembu said Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa, whose election as head of the ANC in December marked the beginning of the end of Zuma’s tenure, could be sworn in as head of state as early as Friday.

“After we have voted for the removal of the President of the Republic tomorrow - and depending on the availability of the Chief Justice - we will also elect a new president,” Mthembu told a news conference in Cape Town.