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Jacob Zuma

JOHANNESBURG. – President Jacob Zuma has released his planned engagements until mid-February, amid heightened speculation that he could quit. This comes after the ANC national executive committee (NEC) agreed that he must be recalled as head of state, but failed to give a deadline.

Sources close to the matter have dismissed claims in a WhatsApp message that President Zuma would leave office today and that a planned announcement would be made to the country tomorrow.

Speculation that President Zuma could be out of office soon were also fuelled by his last-minute decision to cancel his planned trip to Liberia to attend George Weah’s presidential inauguration. He was represented by Water Affairs and Sanitation Minister Nomvula Mokonyane.

The diary shows President Zuma, continuing with his presidential duties, including a scheduled trip to Addis Ababa in Ethiopia to attend the annual African Union assembly on January 28 to 29. It also includes the upcoming State of the Nation address in Parliament on February 8 as well as the subsequent traditional debate of his address on February 15.

The ANC’s highest decision-making body, the national executive committee (NEC), held a two-day meeting last week, where it was agreed that the party’s top six officials, led by party president Cyril Ramaphosa, should manage his “dignified” exit.

The NEC met on Thursday and Friday, which was followed by an NEC Lekgotla over the weekend, which saw radical changes being made to the embattled Eskom board. ANC secretary-general Ace Magashule was due to hold a press conference on the outcomes of the Lekgotla at Luthuli House yesterday afternoon.

Other ANC sources have told News24 that they don’t expect any major announcements around President Zuma’s fate to be made while Ramaphosa was out of the country.He is currently leading a Team South Africa delegation at the annual World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. – News24