Jacob Zuma, who resigned as president of South Africa on February 14, 2018. FILE PHOTO | AFP
JOHANNESBURG
South
Africa's President Jacob Zuma, in power since 2009, resigned on
Wednesday after being under pressure to quit before the official end of
his term in mid-2019.
- 2009: First Zulu president
As
the leader of the majority African National Congress, Zuma is elected
president by parliament on May 6, 2009 after the party's victory at
general elections.
South Africa's first Zulu president, he is sworn in three days later.
Zuma became ANC leader in late 2007, ousting
ex-president Thabo Mbeki, who had fired him as vice president two years
earlier following corruption accusations.
- 2012: Marikana massacre
In
August 2012 police shoot dead 34 striking miners in the northern town
of Marikana, in the worst violence involving the security forces since
the end of apartheid.
The massacre
shocks South Africa and shakes confidence in the nation's post-racial
settlement in a turning point for Zuma's government.
It sparks a violent wave of strikes in the mines in which around 60 are killed.
In a sign of his waning popularity, Zuma is booed at a memorial service for Nelson Mandela in 2013.
- 2016: Corruption allegations
Re-elected
by parliament in 2014 after the ANC wins general elections, Zuma
suffers a serious setback in March 2016 when South Africa's top court
says he flouted the constitution and used public funds to upgrade his
private residence.
He agrees to pay back some of the money.
In
August he is blamed for an electoral debacle when the ANC registers its
worst result at municipal elections since democracy in 1994. The revolt
reaches the party's highest ranks.
In
November South Africa's anti-corruption watchdog calls for prosecutors
to investigate charges that Zuma allowed the Guptas, a wealthy Indian
business family, undue influence over government.
- 2017: Turbulence
Zuma
sacks finance minister and rival Pravin Gordhan in a cabinet purge in
March 2017, stirring animosity among senior ANC leaders.
Tens of thousands demonstrate in April to call for his resignation.
In August deputies vote against a no-confidence motion against Zuma, the fourth since 2015, by a relatively tight margin.
In
December vice president Cyril Ramaphosa is elected ANC chief over
Zuma's ex-wife, Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma. She is accused by opponents of
wanting to shield her ex-husband from justice.
- 2018: The End of Zuma
Faced
with mounting scandals and legal processes, Zuma is forced by a court
in early January 2018 to appoint an investigation into corruption at the
highest levels of the state.
After
Ramaphosa's victory, there are increasing calls from within the ANC for
Zuma's departure to preserve the party's chances of winning the 2019
presidential election.
He resists, leading the party to announce on February 13, 2018 that it has decided to "recall" him.
On February 14, in a televised address to the nation, Zuma announces he has resigned his office with immediate effect.
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