South Africa president Jacob Zuma handed in his resignation today (Feb. 14), after weeks of painful and protracted discussions with the country’s ruling African National Congress. The embattled leader has rightly earned the nickname ‘Teflon president‘ for surviving multiple scandals since becoming ANC president in 2007, and South African president in 2009. The president described the pressure he faced to resign as “unfair,” but to many, it was a long time coming. After all, it only took:
- Ten years,
- One rape trial,
- Two investigations into close family friends,
- 783 charges of corruption (dropped, then reinstated),
- A 5% rise in an already disastrous unemployment rate,
- $20 million in state funds for a private home,
- Half a dozen motions of no-confidence in parliament,
- Three finance ministers in four days, (and a fourth shortly afterwards),
- And 58 days following the election of new African National Congress president Cyril Ramaphosa,
for the ANC to force Zuma to step down.