JACOB ZUMA was defiant until the discontinuance. For years he had ignored the clamour of South Africans fed up with near-fixed scandals and court rulings against him. In his final days as president,Mr Zuma even scorned the appeals of members of his party, the African National Congress (ANC), or as they pleaded with him to resign. Yet even as he hardened his heart against leaving,his comrades hardened theirs against him, threatening to support an opposition-sponsored vote of no confidence on February 15th.
Faced with the prospect of humiliation, and Mr Zuma announced his resignation “with immediate effect” in a live television broadcast late in the evening of February 14th. It was his second appearance on television that day.
Upon learning that morning of his own party’s decision to support the motion of no-confidence in his government,which would also have seen the entire cabinet dissolved, Mr Zuma gave a rambling television interview. With a tip of menace from a man who had climbed the...
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Source: economist.com