Zuma's Early Exit No Easy Task in South Africa: QuickTake Q&A

South African President Jacob Zuma’s power is steadily eroding as his tenure as head of the ruling African National Congress draws to a close. His sweeping cabinet changes, including the firing of Pravin Gordhan as his finance minister, have precipitated a political crisis to go along with his own scandal-ridden history and the nation’s economic struggles -- high unemployment, yawning inequality and a recession. Following the March 31 dismissal of Gordhan, a favorite of investors who kept a lid on spending and pledged to cut debt, S&P Global Ratings and Fitch Ratings Ltd. cut the nation’s credit rating to junk. Opposition parties, labor unions, civic groups and even some senior ANC members are demanding that Zuma quit or be fired. He’s due to step down as party leader in December and as president in 2019.

The campaign to push Zuma out won’t succeed without the backing of a significant portion of the ANC, the nation’s dominant party since the first post-apartheid election in 1994. Thus far the party has closed ranks in the face of opposition moves against its leaders.