A deal has been tabled by a faction backing Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa to have President Jacob Zuma step down from office before his term ends.
According to Daily Maverick, a request has been made to begin talks with Zuma and have him accept the proposal, which reportedly includes him being free from having to face 783 corruption charges and to have him escape any jail time linked to his dealings.
The amnesty deal was apparently dropped recently in the lead-up to the ANC’s national policy conference, according to the website. However, Zuma had not agreed to a meeting regarding this.
Two sources have confirmed that the amnesty deal was the brainchild of a faction which wants Ramaphosa to take over from Zuma in leading the ANC. Zuma is understood to have made a fuss about dismissing the deal.
A source said such an agreement was to benefit everyone in the ANC who supported Zuma and Ramaphosa’s faction.
“We have to ask ourselves: how do you reach a win-win scenario? How do we avoid a scorched earth situation? And how do you not dig yourself into a deeper hole? Lastly,” added the source, “some belligerence may linger—people may not quite have gotten it. So how do you deal with that?”
The deal is based on a similar settlement which was reached in Ireland in the 1990s which put an end to political unrest and instability in that country.
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