President Zuma calls meeting of six leading ANC members as calls for his resignation grow

SOUTH African president Jacob Zuma has called a meeting of the six leading members of the African National Congress (ANC) in a desperate bid to fend off calls for his resignation in the midst of corruption charges being levelled against him.

Scandal-plagued President Zuma has faced calls from within the ANC to step down since deputy president Cyril Ramaphosa succeeded him as leader of the party in December. Following the elections, if President Zuma stood down, Mr Ramaphosa would then be his natural successor.

Earlier this year, the ANC said it has discussed President Zuma resigning before the end of his term in mid-2019, although his staunch supporters within the party say this will not happen. President Zuma, 75, is currently battling a string of corruption allegations and Mr Ramaphosa has in recent weeks pledged to make tackling graft one of his top priorities.

To find a way around the crisis, President Zuma has called a meeting of the ANC's top brass and they will meet over the weekend to find a way forward. South Africa's National Prosecuting Agency (NPA), the state prosecutor, said that President Zuma had provided arguments on why he should not be prosecuted for corruption.

President Zuma, who has faced and denied numerous corruption allegations since taking office, submitted documents to the NPA providing reasons why 783 counts of corruption relating to a 30bn rand ($2bn) arms deal arranged in the late 1990s should not be reinstated. NPA’s spokesman Luvuyo Mfaku said the agency's head Shaun Abrahams, personally received the representations from the legal representatives of President Zuma.

Among other things, President Zuma’s ties to the Gupta family, whose members include a trio of businessmen, has drawn criticism from former allies as well as opponents. However, the Guptas and the president deny any wrongdoing and although President Zuma still retains the support of a faction within the ANC, he no longer holds a top post.

Opposition parties have called for President Zuma to be removed from office before delivering the State of the Nation Address on February 8. However, South Africa’s parliament said President Zuma will deliver the speech as planned.

Baleka Mbete, the speaker of parliament, said: "There are processes going on, every day and every night. At this point the information we have is that the head of state is President Jacob Zuma."