The African National Congress's National Executive Committee didn't set a deadline for Zuma to resign and wanted to give him "time and space" to respond to the decision taken during a 13-hour meeting that ended early Tuesday, ANC Secretary-General Ace Magashule said. While Zuma agreed to step down, he wanted to remain in office for up to six months, which the party considered too long.
"The decision of the NEC is now final," he said. "That decision can't change. We are not treating Jacob Zuma as a leader who is defiant. We will treat him with dignity. There is no need for us to humiliate him. I'm sure the president will respond tomorrow."
The decision to order him to go marked the failure of efforts to agree to an amicable transfer of power from Zuma's scandal-ridden administration. The ANC wants Ramaphosa, 65, to take over as soon as possible before elections next year so he has time to show he can meet his pledges to rebuild a battered economy — the most industrialized in Africa — and clamp down on the graft.