By
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South
African opposition leaders piled pressure on President Jacob Zuma on Wednesday
after a parliamentary vote of no confidence exposed deep rifts in his ANC party
as it readies for a leadership battle.
Zuma survived the attempt to oust him, but he was weakened after at least 30 African National Congress lawmakers voted on Tuesday for a motion that would have forced him to resign.
The
75-year-old is due to step down as head of the party in December, and as
national president before the 2019 general election.
Whoever
succeeds him as party leader would be likely to be the next South African
president, and Tuesday’s vote underlined the fierce struggle for control of the
party once led by anti-apartheid icon Nelson Mandela.
Zuma is
seen as favouring his ex-wife, former African Union chief Nkosazana
Dlamini-Zuma, to take over, ahead of Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa.
“The
opposition will now step up its campaign against Zuma — he is the symbol that
they use to scare voters (away from the ANC),” Achille Mbembe, political
analyst at Wits University in Johannesburg, told AFP.
“This
is the end of the post-colonial story when the liberation movement comes to
power but then loses its legitimacy.”
On
Tuesday, Zuma secured 198 votes against 177 for the opposition motion, which
would have needed 201 votes to gain a majority and oust him — and his entire
cabinet.
‘Mortally wounded’?
Many
analysts said the vote, which was held by secret ballot, was closer than
expected.
“Jacob Zuma survived yet again, protected by the party that
elected him twice and shielded him from accountability countless times,” Mmusi
Maimane, leader of the main opposition Democratic Alliance party, said
Wednesday.
“It was the first time in 23 years of democracy that such a
number of ANC MPs broke rank,” he said, calling for early elections.
Julius Malema, head of the Economic Freedom Fighters party,
said: “Our work is now bringing some positive results… We will eat this
elephant piece by piece.”
Criticism of Zuma from within the ANC has grown amid multiple
corruption scandals and South Africa’s mounting economic woes.
Several opposition parties led thousands of anti-Zuma protesters
outside the national assembly before Tuesday’s vote, while supporters of the
president held a rival march.
Afterwards, Zuma vowed the ANC would win the 2019 elections,
telling supporters: “We represent the majority of this country. The ANC is
there, it’s powerful, it’s big, it’s difficult to defeat.”
The ANC parliamentary group celebrated victory over what it
described as an attempted “soft coup”.
Parliament speaker Baleka Mbete made a surprise decision to hold
the ballot in secret after a campaign by the opposition who hoped to encourage
ANC members to vote against their leader.
A handful of MPs have publicly joined calls from anti-apartheid
veterans and trade unions for Zuma to resign, as South Africa endures record
unemployment and a recession.
Public support for the ANC, which swept to power under Mandela
in the first non-racial elections in 1994, slipped to 55 percent in last year’s
local polls — its worst-ever result.