South Africa's political deadlock deepened on Saturday, with no resolution to extend talks over President Jacob Zuma's expected call 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 political scene to a standstill, with a series of public events canceled this week, including Thursday's State of the Union address in Parliament in Cape Town.
President Zuma has removed his weekend plans from his diary, but Vice President Ramaphosa is scheduled to address a rally in the city on Sunday to kick off Nelson Mandela's centenary celebrations.
February 11th was also the day Mandela was released from prison in 1990, making it an important day for the rebirth of modern South Africa after the collapse of white minority rule by apartheid.
Environment Minister Edna Molewa said on Saturday: “I am confident that once[Mr Zuma and Mr Ramaphosa]are finished, they will bring positive progress to South Africa.”
“We're really saying, 'Be patient.'”
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 a confrontation.
“Mr Zuma pretended to open the door to negotiations, but he has stepped into negotiations.”
corruption scandal
Local media said the biggest hurdle was the legal costs Zuma faces as he faces a lengthy legal battle related to multiple criminal cases.
One of them relates to 783 payments he allegedly received in connection with arms deals before he assumed power.
The ANC insists there will be no delay in delivering the budget on February 21st.
Prime Minister Ramaphosa has not made any public comment since pledging on Wednesday to “resolve the issue quickly”, and Zuma has not said anything since he was asked to resign by senior ANC officials on February 4.
On Friday, the president reportedly flew back from Cape Town to his official residence in Pretoria, and the pro-Zuma New Age newspaper said he would gather his family there over the weekend to report on the decision.
On the same day, Mr Zuma's wife Thobbeka Madiba-Zuma posted a photo of the couple on Instagram, issuing a defiant warning against “picking fights with those who won't”.
President since 2009, the 75-year-old has clung to power despite a series of corruption scandals, a weak economy and record unemployment.
But his grip on the ANC was shaken in December when his chosen successor, his ex-wife Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, narrowly lost to Ramaphosa in a close race for the party leadership.
ANC loses its luster
Many of the latest corruption allegations against Mr. Zuma are linked to 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.
A general election is scheduled for next year.
The Nelson Mandela Foundation, South Africa's anti-apartheid icon, called for Zuma to step down, saying he had shown himself “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.
