File photo: South African President Jacob Zuma attends the 54th national conference of the ruling African National Congress (ANC) at the Nasrec Expo Center in Johannesburg, South Africa, on December 16, 2017.Reuters/Siphiwe Sibeko/File photo
JOHANNESBURG: South Africa's political deadlock worsened on Saturday with no resolution to extend talks over the expected resignation of President Jacob Zuma, whose party has called for his resignation.
President-elect Cyril Ramaphosa and the ruling ANC have said they should conclude negotiations within days, but have not provided details on how they will ease Zuma's grip on power.
The stalemate has brought South Africa's politics to a standstill, with a series of public events canceled this week, including a major State of the Nation address to parliament in Cape Town on Thursday.
President Zuma has crossed his weekend plans from his diary, but Vice President Ramaphosa is scheduled to address a rally in the city on Sunday to begin a year of commemoration of Nelson Mandela's 100th birthday.
February 11th is also the day Mandela was released from prison in 1990. It was a significant day in the collapse of apartheid white minority rule and the rebirth of modern South Africa.
The News24 website said on Saturday, without citing sources, that Zuma and Ramaphosa would “conclude” talks on Zuma's resignation within 48 hours and that the results would be announced to the nation later.
But Susan Booysen, a political science professor at Wits University in Johannesburg, said Mr Zuma could continue fighting for several more days.
“Stalemate is the word that best describes the situation,” she told AFP.
“Mr Zuma is refusing to resign in a fight to the end, but Mr Ramaphosa does not want discord.
“Mr Zuma pretended to open the door to negotiations, but he has stepped into negotiations.”
corruption scandal
Local media reported that the main sticking point in the negotiations was over legal costs facing Zuma, who is expected to face a lengthy legal battle related to several criminal cases.
On Friday, the president reportedly flew back from Cape Town to his official residence in Pretoria.
The ANC said it was awaiting the “imminent conclusion” of the talks and said the February 21 budget would not be postponed.
Prime Minister Ramaphosa has not made any public comments since Wednesday, saying the discussions were “constructive” to ensure “a speedy resolution of the issue”.
Mr Zuma has not made any comment since last Sunday when senior ANC officials asked him to resign.
The pro-Zuma New Age newspaper reported on Friday that the president would gather his family at his Pretoria residence this weekend to report on his decision.
Mr Zuma's wife, Thobeka Madiba-Zuma, posted a photo of the couple on Instagram on Friday, adding a defiant comment warning against “picking fights with those who won't”.
Zuma, 75, has been president since 2009 and has clung to power despite a spate of corruption scandals, an economic downturn and record unemployment.
His grip on the ANC was shaken when his choice to succeed his ex-wife, Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, narrowly lost to Ramaphosa in a close leadership contest in December.
Mr Zuma faces several lawsuits, including one related to 783 payments he allegedly received in connection with arms deals before coming to power.
ANC loses luster
Many of the recent graft allegations involve the Gupta family, India's wealthy businessmen, who are accused of unfairly winning government contracts and influencing ministerial appointments.
In 2007, the party ousted then-president Thabo Mbeki on suspicion of abuse of power.
Under Zuma, the ANC suffered its worst electoral setback since coming to power in 1994, winning less than 54% of the vote in local elections in 2016.
The Nelson Mandela Foundation, South Africa's anti-apartheid icon, called for Zuma to step down, saying he had “demonstrated that he is unfit to govern”.
Mr Ramaphosa, 65, is a former trade unionist who led talks to end apartheid in the early 1990s and went on to become a billionaire businessman before returning to politics.