The Nelson Mandela Foundation has also sharply criticised Zuma, saying that “political meddling for private interests” during his tenure has weakened state institutions, adding: “It is painful for us at the Nelson Mandela Foundation to bear witness to the wheels coming off the vehicle of our state.”
On Wednesday, some of the country’s top political cartoonists joined the calls for Zuma to step down, saying it was in the national interest for him to go even though it would mean losing one of their “richest sources of material”.
Thousands of South African people have joined protests calling for the resignation of Jacob Zuma, who has been enmeshed in scandals that critics say are undermining the country’s democracy.
The protests on Wednesday in the administrative capital of Pretoria came as opposition lawyers argued in court for the prompt release of a state watchdog report about allegations that a family linked to the president sought to influence some cabinet post selections to benefit its own business interests.
The protests on Wednesday in the administrative capital of Pretoria came as opposition lawyers argued in court for the prompt release of a state watchdog report about allegations that a family linked to the president sought to influence some cabinet post selections to benefit its own business interests.
The president has withdrawn a bid to block the release of the report, said his lawyer, Anthea Platt.
The possibility of new allegations of wrongdoing at top levels of the South African government is likely to increase pressure on Zuma, who apologised earlier this year after the constitutional court said he flouted the constitution in a scandal over more than $20m in state funds used to upgrade his rural home.
Zuma eventually paid back more than $500,000, an amount determined by the national treasury.
In a separate scandal, the director of the National Prosecuting Authority dropped fraud charges this week against the finance minister, Pravin Gordhan, following an outcry among South Africans who suspected the move to prosecute Gordhan was an attempt by government factions to take control of the treasury.
On Wednesday, business executives, religious leaders and others gathered in a Pretoria cathedral to demand that the president quit.
They said alleged corruption linked to Zuma was undermining one of Africa’s biggest economies, which is experiencing weak growth, as well as a constitution that was crafted after the end of white minority rule in 1994.
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