ANC Rejects Call For Zuma To Stand Down

South Africa’s ruling ANC has rejected calls for President Jacob Zuma to stand down after he rocked financial markets last week by appointing an ‘unpopular’ person as finance minister.

Zuma appointed David van Rooyen, a former mayor, to replace the widely respected Nhlanhla Nene last Wednesday, a move that sparked a selling frenzy in the rand, bonds and stock market.

But he changed his mind late on Sunday and reappointed former finance Minister Pravin Gordhan to the post he held from 2009 to 2014.

The dramatic U-turn fuelled speculations that the ruling party might make the 73-year-old relinquish the reins of power because of the damage done to Africa’s most advanced economy.

However, the spokesman for the ruling party, Zizi Kodwa, said top officials in the African National Congress (ANC), Nelson Mandela’s erstwhile liberation movement that has ruled since the end of apartheid in 1994, had not contemplated such drastic action.

“I can confirm that there was no discussion of recalling the president,” he told a news conference.

According to Reuters, ANC deputy secretary-general Jessie Duarte said Zuma had decided to change van Rooyen’s appointment on Sunday afternoon after a 70-minute meeting with top party officials, including deputy president Cyril Ramaphosa.

“The change has been made and that action has been taken to rectify what we believe really caused a bloodbath in the economy,” Duarte said.

The party had not anticipated such a severe reaction from the markets to Nene’s departure, she added.

The rand shed 9 per cent against the dollar in the two days after van Rooyen’s appointment while banks lost more than 15 per cent on worries South Africa’s sovereign credit rating could slip into “junk” territory.