Anti-apartheid veteran urges Zuma to resign

Johannesburg. A South African anti-apartheid veteran who was jailed with Nelson Mandela has urged beleaguered president Jacob Zuma to step down after a damning ruling found him in violation of the constitution.
In an open letter seen at the weekend, Ahmed Kathrada, 86, joined a growing chorus of leading figures calling for Mr Zuma to leave office.
The criticism comes after the Constitutional Court last Thursday found Mr Zuma in breach of the constitution for using public funds to upgrade his private home at Nkandla village.

Mr Zuma, who has long denied wrongdoing for the work valued in 2014 at 216 million rand (then $24 million), on Friday apologised to the nation for the misuse of public funds.
In a March 31 letter, Kathrada asked if Zuma did not think that his continued stay would deepen the crisis of confidence in the government.
“Today I appeal to our president to submit to the will of the people and resign,” read the letter published in local media.
“I know that if I were in the President’s shoes, I would step down with immediate effect,” Kathrada wrote.
Mr Zuma said he would abide by the Constitutional Court’s verdict, which ordered him to pay back money spent on a swimming pool, chicken run, cattle enclosure and amphitheatre built at his rural home.

The ruling is the latest scandal to tarnish Zuma’s presidency.
Kathrada asked if Zuma was aware that his “contribution to the liberation struggle stands to be severely tarnished if the remainder of your term as President continues to be dogged by crises, and a growing public loss of confidence in the ANC.”

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Zuma, 73, has also faced scathing criticism over his friendship with the wealthy Gupta family who are said to have undue influence over his government. But the Nkandla scandal became a symbol of alleged widespread corruption within the African National Congress party, which has ruled since 1994.