--- description: South Africa's ruling Africa National Congress (ANC) party has given corruption-dogged President Jacob Zuma a 48-hour deadline to step down. title: South Africa's ANC Asks President Jacob Zuma to Step Down image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2d236cd7abaf5370/6989274bbc6cfc7d123e4fd6/rtx4vo05.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [World](/section/world/) ## World Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [South Africa](/tag/south-africa/) ## South Africa Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # South Africa's Ruling Party Has Given President Jacob Zuma 48-Hours to Resign by [Eli Meixler](/author/eli/) ## Eli Meixler Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Feb 13, 2018 3:56 AM CUT  President Jacob Zuma leaves Tuynhuys, the office of the presidency, in Cape Town, South Africa on Feb. 7, 2018. President Jacob Zuma leaves Tuynhuys, the office of the presidency, in Cape Town, South Africa on Feb. 7, 2018.Sumaya Hisham—Reuters by [Eli Meixler](/author/eli/) ## Eli Meixler Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Feb 13, 2018 3:56 AM CUT South Africa’s ruling Africa National Congress (ANC) party has decided to formally ask corruption-dogged [President Jacob Zuma to step down](http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-43039928 "undefined"), following a marathon meeting by the party’s leadership this week. The ANC’s executive committee gave the embattled president a [48-hour deadline to resign](https://www.reuters.com/article/us-safrica-politics/south-africas-anc-decides-to-remove-zuma-as-head-of-state-source-idUSKBN1FW028 "undefined"), Reuters reports. Zuma has refused repeated calls to relinquish the presidency amid mounting graft scandals and despite the election of deputy president [Cyril Ramaphosa](http://content.time.com/time/specials/2007/time100/article/0,28804,1595326%5F1615737%5F1615731,00.html "undefined") as leader in December. Zuma, who has served as South Africa’s president since 2009, has insisted on seeing out the end of his term in mid-2019. It remains unclear if Zuma, 75, will relent on Tuesday, but if he does not, he is expected to [face a vote of confidence in parliament](http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-43039928 "undefined") that he is likely lose, further jeopardizing his grip on power, the BBC reports. Zuma’s popularity has plunged as his second presidential term has been married by allegations of corruption and mismanagement of state funds. In 2016, South Africa’s highest court ruled that Zuma violated his oath of office when he used an estimated $15 million of government money to upgrade his private home. Zuma later repaid some of the funds, but, the BBC says, a court ruled that [parliament failed](http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-42510304 "undefined") to properly hold the president to account and must lay down guidelines for impeachment. In October, South Africa’s Supreme Court of Appeal moved to [reopen nearly 800 corruption charges](https://www.reuters.com/article/us-safrica-politics-zuma/south-african-supreme-court-upholds-reinstating-783-corruption-charges-against-zuma-idUSKBN1CI1B7 "undefined") against Zuma, related to a $2 billion government arms deal in the 1990s. Zuma’s alleged links to South Africa’s influential Gupta family, who are suspected of brokering influence in the government, also led the [ANC to open a probe](http://time.com/4810488/south-africas-graft-scandal-jacob-zuma/ "undefined") last year. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5154844/south-africa-jacob-zuma-resign-anc/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5154844/south-africa-jacob-zuma-resign-anc/"},"headline":"South Africa's Ruling Party Has Given President Jacob Zuma 48-Hours to Resign","datePublished":"2018-02-13T03:56:26.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T19:15:23.341Z","description":"Zuma has refused repeated calls to relinquish the presidency amid mounting graft scandals","url":"https://time.com/5154844/south-africa-jacob-zuma-resign-anc/","keywords":["South Africa","Jacob Zuma","onetime","overnight"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2d236cd7abaf5370/6989274bbc6cfc7d123e4fd6/rtx4vo05.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Eli Meixler","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/eli/"}],"articleSection":"World","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2d236cd7abaf5370/6989274bbc6cfc7d123e4fd6/rtx4vo05.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"FILE PHOTO: President Jacob Zuma leaves Tuynhuys, the office of the Presidency at Parliament in Cape Town","caption":"FILE PHOTO: President Jacob Zuma leaves Tuynhuys, the office of the Presidency at Parliament in Cape Town","creditText":"Sumaya Hisham—Reuters","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/world/","name":"World"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/south-africa/","name":"South Africa"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5154844/south-africa-jacob-zuma-resign-anc/","name":"South Africa's Ruling Party Has Given President Jacob Zuma 48-Hours to Resign"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"South African President Jacob Zuma Survives 7th Attempted Ouster","description":"South African President Jacob Zuma again survived a no-confidence vote in parliament Tuesday in the most serious attempt yet to unseat him","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/eyc6zDXi/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2017-08-08T19:49:37.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/eyc6zDXi.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/5154844/south-africa-jacob-zuma-resign-anc/","duration":"PT58S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/5154844/south-africa-jacob-zuma-resign-anc/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```