South Africa’s President Jacob Zuma on Wednesday (February 14) branded as “unfair” demands from the ruling ANC party for him to stand down.
“I have a feeling that the leadership is unfair. It’s not even helping me to understand what is it that is so critical. It’s just, you know, ‘you must just go’. I’ve got a problem with that,” Zuma said.
The ANC on Wednesday unveiled plans to sack Zuma via a parliamentary no-confidence vote, hours after armed police raided the luxury home of his friends the Gupta brothers, investigating corruption allegations. Zuma said that if Parliament wanted him to go “I would be out”.
The latest 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.
In a related development, Elite South African police arrested two people in an early morning raid on the luxury Johannesburg home of the Gupta brothers, wealthy friends of President Jacob Zuma accused of influence peddling and corruption, the SABC said. The state broadcaster did not provide details of the two detainees.
Police raided the family home of businessmen friends of President Jacob Zuma on Wednesday amid a probe into allegations that the family used their links with the president to win state contracts and influence Cabinet appointments.
The raid by the specialist Hawks police unit on the family home of the Guptas came a day after the ruling African National Congress (ANC) ordered Zuma to step down as head of state after nine years in office dogged by scandal and a stagnant economy.
A dozen heavily armed tactical police blocked off a street leading to the Gupta home in Johannesburg. A police officer told Reuters: “This is a crime scene.” Zuma and the Guptas, a family of wealthy Indian-born businessmen, deny any wrongdoing.
The Hawks spokesman Hangwani Mulaudzi was not immediately available for comment, but the state broadcaster quoted him as saying the police were there as part of a raid. The Guptas are accused by the anti-graft watchdog of using the friendship with Zuma to amass wealth. Both deny any wrong doing.
Source: TVC News Online
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