SOUTH-AFRICA – After the African National Congress (ANC) gave full support to South Africa’s disgraced President Jacob Zuma late last week following a Constitutional Court ruling against him, we had just about given up hope that a sense of decency remained in the ruling party.

But Saturday we learnt that Mr Ahmed Kathrada, known to be one of South Africa’s most revered anti-apartheid activists, a man who was jailed alongside that country’s iconic freedom fighter, the late President Nelson Mandela, wrote to Mr Zuma urging him to step down.

The focus of Mr Kathrada’s letter was wider than the events that led to the Constitutional Court ruling. Indeed, he referenced the series of scandals that has engulfed Mr Zuma’s presidency and noted that it had now got to the point where only his resignation could allow the Government to recover from what he termed a crisis of confidence.(Jamaica Observer)…[+]