Mbeki agrees to step down
2008-09-20 15:41
Johannesburg - South African President Thabo Mbeki accepts a call from the governing African National Congress to stand down, his spokesperson Mukoni Ratshitanga said on Saturday.
"The president has accepted the decision of the ANC's national executive council," he said on 702 Talk Radio in Johannesburg, which reported that Mbeki is convening a special government meeting for Sunday to decide the way forward.
Mbeki, 66, who succeeded Nelson Mandela as president in June 1999, has been under fire over allegations that he was influential in pressing corruption charges against ANC leader Jacob Zuma.
ANC secretary general Gwede Mantashe said the decision to recall President Thabo Mbeki from office was "as an effort to heal and unite the ANC".
"The ANC has decided to recall the president of the republic before his term of office expires. Our decision has been communicated to him," said Mantashe who was addressing the media at the Esselen Park conference centre in Kempton Park on the East Rand. - Sapa