South Africas ANC Rejects Calls For Zuma To Quit

South Africas African National Congress closed ranks around President Jacob Zuma after two key allies of the ruling party called for his resignation following a cabinet reshuffle that cost the country one of its investment-grade credit ratings.The rand fell more than 1 percent and bonds weakened after ANC Secretary General Gwede Mantashe told a news briefing yesterday that the ANC would not support removing Zuma, whose party leadership role ends in December. Zumas presidential term will finish in 2019.Last Thursdays dismissal of finance minister Pravin Gordhan, a totem of policymaking stability for many foreign investors, was criticized by unions, civil society groups and the opposition, and has revived pressure on Zuma to quit.Since taking office in 2009, the 74-year-old president has repeatedly denied accusations of corruption, and senior ANC officials have backed him.S&P Global Ratings cited Gordhans departure as one reason for its downgrade of South Africa to junk in an unscheduled credit rating review on Monday, a move that is set to push up the countrys borrowing costs.Mantashe said the ANC had accepted the irretrievable breakdown of the relationship between Zuma and Gordhan as the reason the finance minister was sacked.Gordhans removal has deepened a rift within the ruling party, with Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa, a leading candidate to replace Zuma as ANC president, describing it on Friday as totally, totally unacceptable.The South African Communist Party (SACP) and the countrys biggest trade union, Cosatu, both historic allies of the ANC, have called on Zuma to step down following the sacking.
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