CAPE TOWN, Jan. 23 (Xinhua) -- South African President Jacob Zuma will leave for Ethiopia to attend an African Union (AU) summit, the Presidency said on Tuesday, amid rumors that Zuma would resign.
Zuma will travel to Addis Ababa to attend the 30th Ordinary Session of the Assembly of Heads of State and Government of the AU, scheduled for January 28-29, presidential spokesperson Bongani Ngqulunga said.
South Africa, in its capacity as Chair of the Southern African Development Community (SADC), has been mandated to present the SADC common position on the AU Institutional Reforms as adopted by the 37th SADC Summit in August 2017, Ngqulunga said.
The upcoming AU summit is themed: "Winning the Fight against Corruption: A Sustainable Path to Africa's Transformation."
Since Deputy President Cypril Ramaphosa was elected as president of the ruling African National Congress (ANC) in December, pressure has been mounting over Zuma to resign due to his alleged involvement in a series of corruption scandals.
The local news outlet, News24, quoted a high-ranking source at the ANC as saying last week that Zuma would resign "in the coming few weeks."
The ANC's National Executive Committee (NEC), the highest decision making body in the organization, met at the weekend in Pretoria to discuss a wide range of issues, including the fate of Zuma, ANC Secretary General Elias Magashule said after the meeting.
But Magashule said no decision was made about Zuma's resignation.
Zuma has been mum about his fate. But the Presidency last week denied reports that Zuma had submitted a list of demands for his resignation, including a demand that former AU Commission Chairperson Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, ex-wife of Zuma, be appointed as deputy president until the 2019 general elections.
Tuesday's statement by the Presidency was seen as a rejection of reports about Zuma's imminent resignation.
