South African police have raided the luxury home of wealthy allies of President Jacob Zuma, as the embattled leader continued to defy a demand from the ruling African National Congress party to quit.
Members of the elite Hawks and other police units arrested three people as part of the dawn operation in the Saxonwold neighborhood of Johannesburg , a day after the ANC’s top officials publicly declared that Zuma should go.
The operation was an indication that Zuma is losing his grip on power to Cyril Ramaphosa, the former union leader who replaced the President as leader of the ANC in December, and who has orchestrated the party’s stumbling efforts to push him out.
The arrests were a clear shot across Zuma’s bows, and a sign that Ramaphosa will pursue the copprution allegations that have dogged his nine-year tenure. The Guptas have long been implicated in corruption cases linked to the President but until now have largely been untouchable.
Zuma has not spoken publicly since the ANC issued a “recall” notice on Tuesday, a step that does not legally require him to step down, but which signaled that he had lost the support of the party’s top brass.
Without his party’s full support, Zuma is likely to lose a vote of no confidence scheduled for February 22. Opposition parties are calling for that vote to be brought forward.
Zuma has survived a slew of no confidence votes over the years despite the extraordinary number of corruption allegations against him, as until now he could count on the support of the ANC.
Police did not name the three people arrested on Wednesday. They said that two other people linked to the case were expected to hand themselves in.
Wednesday’s operation was linked to the Vrede Farm scandal, in which the three Gupta brothers and government officials are accused of stealing money allocated to benefit poor black farmers.
The Guptas, three Indian-born brothers with close ties to Zuma, are accused by South Africa’s anti-graft body of using their links with the President for financial gain. They deny all the allegations against them.
Zuma cornered
Zuma’s ability to survive the scandals earned him the nickname “Teflon President.”
But the ANC has now turned against him, as the 2019 general elections loom, saying on Tuesday that the tumult over Zuma’s scandals was tarnishing the party’s name and bringing instability to the country. The party, once led by Nelson Mandela, has ruled South Africa since 1994, and led the country out of apartheid.
Zuma’s strategy appears unclear. The ANC said on Tuesday that he had agreed in principle to step down, but only if he could oversee a transition lasting three to six months.
For its part, the ANC can do little to force Zuma out, apart from publicly denouncing him. If he continues to defy their orders, the party will be faced with the ignominious choice of whether to side with an opposition-led confidence vote in parliament, or to table one of their own.
Some ANC leaders have said they expect Zuma to step down on Wednesday. “We expect that tomorrow (Wednesday) he is going to do the right thing as the ANC expects,” South Africa’s Finance Minister Malusi Gigaba told CNN.
He said that the party expected him to step down as President Thabo Mbeki dis in 2008, when in a similar situation.
“If that doesn’t happen, the ANC has put in mechanisms to address that situation.”