African press review 15 February 2018

Zulu warrior Jacob Zuma steps down after losing last political battle. And Morgan Tsvangirai the icon of democratic struggle in Zimbabwe dies at the age of 65.

We begin with reactions in the South African press to President Jacob Zuma's resignation, after he announced in a televised address on Wednesday night that he was stepping down with immediate effect.

Zuma’s address comes after the ANC moved to remove him from office by a vote of no confidence in parliament on Thursday, had he not acceded to the party’s edict for him to resign by the end of the day.

Cape Times claims that Zuma was still seeking reasons for his forced exit as he finally bowed despite the scandals that marked his eight years in office. The paper says that remained defiant in his resignation address, justifying his decision with what he called his duty not to split the ANC or to incite protests.

"No life should be lost in my name and neither should the ANC ever be divided in my name", Jacob Zuma is quoted by the paper as saying.

Mail and Guardian holds that Zuma’s resignation marks the end of a tense standoff between him and the party’s newly elected leadership. According to Mail and Guardian, Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa will now act as president until parliament convenes to elect a new president, under the provisions of South Africa's constitution..

The Sowetan says it is able to report that Parliament could elect a new president by Friday or at an earlier time if the chief justice is available.

“Zuma Exit was South Africa's Mugabe moment”, satirizes the Star. The paper has a rundown of some of the lose bricks in Zuma's wall, or scandals involving him that made waves in the country.

The Star first picked out the trial in 2005 of close Zuma aide Schabir Shaik who was found guilty of corruption and fraud and of soliciting a bribe on Zuma’s behalf from French arms company Thomson-CSF currently known as Thales.

That was Jacob Zuma’s greatest albatross for almost 13 years says the Johannesburg paper, adding that it choked any possibility of a scandal-free presidency for him.

The Star also points to the Nkandla scandal about Zuma's use of over 200 million Rand (€13.7 million) of public funds to upgrade his home in a remote KwaZulu-Natal village.

South Africa's papers also reserves portions of their front pages to the passing of Zimbabwean opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai.

Mail and Guardian says he died in a South African hospital, after a long struggle with cancer at the age of 65. According to the publication, Tsvangirai was a veteran opposition leader, for nearly two decades the most credible threat to the long rule of former President Robert Mugabe.

Morgan Tsvangirai He first ran for president in 2002, before shocking the political establishment by winning the first round of the controversial 2008 election. The violence that followed this vote led to the creation of a government of national unity, in which Tsvangirai served as Prime Minister.

In Zimbabwe, the Herald reports that the government had been footing Tsvangirai’s medical bills at the Medical Centre in Johannesburg where he was admitted in critical condition early in January.

The paper says that President Emmerson Mnangagwa and Vice President Constantino Chiwenga visited Tsvangirai at his Highlands home on January 5 days before he was evacuated to South Africa, in a move that was hailed by many Zimbabweans.

The Herald also reports claims that Tsvangirai’s illness had of late caused serious power struggles within the MDC-T pitting co-vice presidents Nelson Chamisa against Eng Mudzuri, pushing the opposition leader’s family to vent outrage about these party vultures who were more concerned with position of authority than seeing the politician survive the deadly disease.

The Chronicle has a string of Tsvangirai's political rivals in the opposition who took to twitter to shower praises on the icon of the democratic struggle.

The online edition of Daily News opened a condolence page for its readers devastated by Tsvangirai's death.  One mourner salutes Morgan, saying he was the man of man who was brave enough to stand up to the abuse of the people by Robert Mugabe. This while another prayed for “his political spirit to live forever with Zimbabwe's coming leaders”.