Three Cabinet Ministers in South Africa Ask President to Resign

Three Cabinet minsters urged South African President to resign.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — At least three Cabinet minsters urged South African President Jacob Zuma to resign and called on the African National Congress party (ANC) to vote to remove the president, if he refuses to step down voluntarily, local media reported on Monday.

According to South African media outlet News 24, Tourism Minister Derek Hanekom, Health Minister Aaron Motsoaledi and Public Works Minister Thulas Nxesi asked Zuma to resign at a meeting of the ANC National Executive Committee (NEC) on Saturday.

The president's opponents reportedly used alleged inappropriate relations with the wealthy business family Gupta, the decrease of electoral support for ANC and the scandal around money spent on president's property as a reason for Zuma's resignation.

The ANC has been facing criticism from the opposition, which accused Zuma of spending state budget on his own purposes. Zuma has denied all allegations and claimed that all transactions had been observed by the state secret service.

Earlier this month, the parliament failed to pass a vote of no confidence in the president, with 214 votes against the move and 126 in favor of it. Earlier this month, the Democratic Alliance sent a request to initiate criminal proceedings against Zuma.