President Jacob Zuma of South Africa is facing a vote of no confidence from the leaders of his own party, the ANC.
He has survived several parliamentary votes but this is the first time the ANC will formally discuss his position.
The top ANC body has extended its meeting to debate the motion, tabled by Tourism Minister Derek Hanekom.
Zuma has increasingly come under criticism over corruption allegations, with a recent report highlighting his links with the wealthy Gupta family.
eNCA understands that the NEC will continue to debate the motion on Monday.
#ANCNEC EXTENDED pic.twitter.com/NCBrjfRgrv
— MyANC (@MYANC) November 27, 2016
It is believed that cabinet ministers in the NEC are divided on the matter, while the so-called premier league reportedly supports Zuma.
Many analysts believe Zuma has the numbers to survive one of the most bruising discussions against his leadership.
“The veterans never wanted the consultative conference to deal with President Jacob Zuma, it wanted to deal with the body politic in the ANC,” said political analyst Karima Brown of a gathering between the party’s stalwarts and the national working committee.
“We must remember that the big prize for the governing party is remaining in power in 2019; if it continues in its current trajectory and simply anoints another person but the political system that operates in the ANC and the DNA that makes the ANC remain, the same people will reject it.”
Another analyst, Prince Mashele, said the apparent disagreements among senior members of the party was a positive sign.
“It is actually good that we have ministers who are rising against him [Zuma]. Here we have a situation of Zuma destroying the country against a few courageous women and Cabinet members who are prepared to say, ‘I will never allow history to record me as part of those who destroyed South Africa’,” Mashele observed.
