Jacob Zuma resigns as South Africa's President

South Africa’s embattled President Jacob Zuma (75) has resigned for the office. He announced the decision after ruling African National Congress (ANC) party threatened to eject him from office via parliamentary vote of no confidence.
Zuma was South Africa’s President for the last 9 years since 2009. His resignation followed weeks of intense public pressure to step down amid long-standing corruption allegations.

Jacob Zuma

He was born in April 1942 in KwaZulu-Natal. He had joined ANC in 1959 and became active member of its military wing in 1962. In August 1963 at age of 21, he was convicted of conspiring to overthrow apartheid government and was imprisoned on Robben Island, alongside Nelson Mandela, for 10 years
In March 1990, after a period in exile, he returned to South Africa when ban on ANC is lifted and was elected to chair the party four years later.  In June 1999, five years after end of apartheid, he was elected as deputy president of South Africa. He had lost the position in 2005 after being implicated in a fraud trial
In April 2009, after corruption charges were dropped, he became president of South Africa. His tenure as President was marred by economic decline and multiple charges of graft that have undermined image and legitimacy of ANC party that led South Africans to freedom in 1994. In October 2017, South African Supreme Court of Appeal had ruled that he must face 18 counts of corruption, fraud, racketeering and money laundering.

Month: Current Affairs - February, 2018