Jacob Zuma 'sacked' as South Africa president by the ANC
Jacob Zuma, in power since 2009, will likely face a no-confidence vote in parliament if he rejects his party's call to resign.
Tuesday 13 February 2018 12:17, UK
The African National Congress has decided to sack Jacob Zuma as South Africa's President, a senior official has said.
The decision to order Mr Zuma's "recall" - which effectively means to remove him from office - came at the end of a 13-hour meeting of its National Executive Committee.
The move, which does not force Mr Zuma to stand down but makes it clear he does not have his party's support, followed days of negotiations between the country's President and the ANC president Cyril Ramaphosa.
If Mr Zuma rejects his party's recommendation to resign, he will likely face a no-confidence vote in parliament.
A source told the Reuters news agency that the ANC had "decided to recall Zuma", adding the discussions were "tense and difficult".
South Africa's state broadcaster SABC quoted sources as saying that Mr Ramaphosa had met Mr Zuma to pass on the message that the NEC had given him 48 hours to resign as head of state.
Eyewitness News reported that Mr Zuma was told he could avoid a recall if he resigned earlier on Monday. But he reportedly told ANC officials: "Do what you want to do", paving the way for the ANC move.
The ANC is expected to reveal the result of the meeting later.
Mr Zuma's presidency has been overshadowed by allegations of corruption. His second term officially runs until mid-2019.
The 75-year-old had come to power in 2009 after engineering the departure of his predecessor Thabo Mbeki.
The ANC wants Mr Zuma to be replaced by Mr Ramaphosa, who won a vote to lead his party in December.