South Africa ruling party ANC suspends Zuma

GAUTENG, South Africa

The South Africa ruling party (ANC) National Executive Committee has taken a decision to suspend former President Jacob Zuma as a member of the party.

The ANC NEC Lekgotla is currently under way in Boksburg on Gauteng’s East Rand.

This follows Zuma’s announcement that he will be campaigning for the newly formed uMkhonto Wesizwe party.

Zuma’s suspension will only be processed by the party’s National Disciplinary Committee after the upcoming national elections as the party continues with its campaign.

Zuma will be given 48 hours to respond to the suspension decision.

Zuma survived calls last year by some members of the NEC for him to quit. But analysts say this time around a bigger section of the party wants him out.

In 2008, shortly after taking the party's helm, Zuma engineered the ousting of Thabo Mbeki from the presidency.

Since Zuma became president in 2009, he has been dogged by scandal. He is fighting the reinstatement of 783 counts of corruption over a 30 billion-rand (now $2.5 billion) government arms deal arranged in the late 1990s when he was deputy president.

Some within the ANC and the opposition say the Gupta family, friends of Zuma, have used their links with the president to win state contracts and influence cabinet appointments. The Guptas and Zuma have denied any wrongdoing.