South Africa’s Trade Unions Congress Asks President Zuma to Stand Down

The Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) called on South African President Jacob Zuma to stand down, according to official statement.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — The Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) has asked President Jacob Zuma to resign, in a statement issued Tuesday, saying it no longer believed in his leadership abilities.

COSATU has long been the president’s staunch ally and stood by him when Zuma was reelected for another five years in 2014. It forms a political alliance with the nation’s ruling party, the African National Congress (ANC), and with the South African Communist Party (SACP).

"COSATU no longer believes that the president is the right person to unite and lead the movement, the Alliance and the country… the time has arrived for him to step down and allow the country to be led forward by a new collective at a government level," it said.

COSATU met for a special meeting of its central executive committee, which condemned last week’s cabinet reshuffle that removed Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan. Although the congress said Ghordan was no "friend of the workers," it complained it had not been consulted for the first time in Zuma’s presidency.