JOHANNESBURG �� South African President Jacob Zuma survived an attempt by some members of the African National Congress' leadership to order his removal from office, according to two members of the ruling party's national executive committee.
The committee decided on Sunday not to vote on a no-confidence motion, according to the committee members, who spoke on the condition of anonymity. Pressure had built on Zuma to quit after his March 31 firing of Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan in a Cabinet reshuffle, which sparked public protests and cost the country its investment-grade credit rating.
The committee's decision will probably increase the chances that Zuma, 75, will survive a no-confidence motion called by opposition parties in parliament, whether or not the Constitutional Court orders a secret ballot for the vote. ANC lawmakers occupy 62 percent of the 400 seats in the National Assembly.
Divisions in the party have widened since the ANC suffered its worst-ever electoral result when it lost control of Johannesburg, the economic hub, and Pretoria, the capital, in a municipal vote in August. Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa, a rival to Zuma's ex-wife to succeed him as party leader in December, said last week that South Africa is threatened with becoming a "mafia state."
A study by eight leading academics from four of the nation's top universities released last week found that Zuma and his allies, including members of the Gupta family who are in business with his son, had carried out "a silent coup" that had enabled them to raid state assets and reap billions of rand from government contracts. Zuma and the Guptas have previously denied such allegations.
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(Paul Vecchiatto contributed to this report.)
