South Africa’s controversial President, Jacob Zuma, on Tuesday survived an impeachment vote in parliament that was initiated in the aftermath of a constitutional court ruling that claimed he had ignored an order to repay state funds spent on his private home.
Zuma was able to escape the impeachment move due largely to the African National Congress’s big majority in the 400-seat assembly.
However, the fall-out from the crisis has created political uncertainty which investors fear might yet hasten a credit ratings downgrade by ratings agencies.
With the ANC controlling almost two-thirds of the assembly, Zuma got the support he needed as expected, with 233 lawmakers voting against the impeachment motion and 143 voting in favor.
The impeachment motion was launched by the opposition Democratic Alliance (DA) and this culminated to an intense debate following last week’s ruling by the court that the president had breached the constitution by ignoring an order to repay some of the $16 million in state funds spent on renovating his home.
“The choice is whether or not you will choose to protect your oath of office that you took here in this house, to protect the constitution, or to serve Jacob Zuma,” Mmusi Maimane, leader of the DA party said.
Julius Malema, leader of the smaller opposition party Economic Freedom Fighters, said: “Zuma and the ANC want to convert South Africa into a banana republic.”
ANC lawmakers argued that Zuma had not violated the constitution deliberately and did not deserve to be impeached. But they acknowledged the party had much to do to rebuild its image.
“There has been damage on the part of the ANC. We need to go down on the ground and explain exactly what happened. We still have a lot to do,” ANC chief whip Jackson Mthembu told reporters outside parliament. “We believe him (Zuma). We accept his apology. We think we can now move forward.”
Zuma, on his part, had already secured the support of the top brass of ANC officials on Friday, after apologizing for failing to repay some of the money spent on his residence.
“The president has apologized and that’s the humility that is necessary for any leader,” ANC General Secretary Gwede Mantashe told 702 Talk Radio, after a wider group of party members met on Monday to discuss Zuma.
Like a lion with many lives, Zuma has survived several political and personal scandals, fending off accusations of corruption, influence peddling and even rape before he took office in 2009.
