A constitutional coup d'etat
2008-09-22 11:20
Cape Town - President Thabo Mbeki was to address the nation on Sunday after agreeing to resign following calls from his ANC party to step down, leaving South Africa with political uncertainty ahead of elections expected next year.
Mbeki said on Saturday he will step down "as soon as all constitutional requirements have been fulfilled" after calls by the African National Congress national executive committee for him to go.
It is believed the ANC is not ready to call an election earlier than those set down for April 2009, and that the party will appoint an interim president to lead the country for the remainder of the second term.
No early election
"They (the ANC) want to avoid an early election at all cost. They are not ready. They need time to rectify things and renew their relationship with the electorate," political analyst Judith February told AFP.
Mbeki, 66, who succeeded Nelson Mandela as president in June 1999, has been under fire over allegations that he influenced the pressing of corruption charges against ANC leader and political rival Jacob Zuma.
"The ANC has decided to recall the president of the republic before his mandate has expired," the ANC's secretary general Gwede Mantashe told journalists after a meeting of the party leadership.
"Our decision has been concluded, the formalities are now subject to the parliamentary process," Mantashe said, adding that Mbeki "didn't express shock, he welcomed the news.
"We have communicated our decision (to Mbeki) and that we will be going through parliamentary process. He has agreed to participate in that process."
Government spokesperson Themba Maseko said a cabinet meeting had been called for Sunday afternoon, and afterwards Mbeki would "speak to the nation" in a live broadcast on radio and television.
It will be Mbeki's first direct speech to the public since he took to television screens across the country in the wake of anti-foreigner killings which rocked the country in May.
Appointed by parliament
Under the South African constitution, the president is appointed by parliament, which has been dominated by the ANC since the end of apartheid and the start of majority rule in May 1994.
Mbeki's term formally expires in mid-2009.
South African media said on Sunday Mbeki's resignation left South Africa's leaders with the arduous task of rebuilding a messy political scene, while analysts said several cabinet ministers may follow in his footsteps.
Sunday Times editor Mondli Makhanya likened events leading up to Mbeki's agreeing to resign to a constitutional coup d'etat.
Makhanya compared the week's events to those in 1989 when PW Botha was forced to relinquish power of the white minority ruling National Party after a stroke, to reformist FW De Klerk who eventually led the country toward democracy.
"Today we are seeing similar scenes play themselves out. A once-feared Mbeki is being removed from office by people who had trembled before him."
Mbeki's fate was all but sealed after a September 12 court ruling that cleared Zuma of corruption charges and hinted that Mbeki's government had interfered in the decision to prosecute him.
Not punishment
The dismissal of the charges on a technicality cleared the way for Zuma to become South Africa's president in elections next year.
The main allegation against Zuma had been that he received bribes for protecting French arms company Thint in an investigation into a controversial weapons deal.
Judge Chris Nicholson said the decision to throw out the case was not a reflection of Zuma's guilt or innocence, but a technical decision based on his right to make representations before being recharged.
Mantashe said the decision to ask Mbeki to stand down was taken in the interest of party unity.
"This is not a punishment," he said. "We decided to take this decision in an effort to heal and reunite the ANC."