S. Africa’s Zuma submits letter of resignation to parliament - speaker

The speaker of South Africa’s parliament has received a letter from Jacob Zuma informing her of his resignation as president, Baleka Mbete’s office said in a statement on Thursday. Zuma told the nation late on Wednesday that he was standing down after being instructed to do so by the ruling party, the African National Congress, Reuters reports. The parliament is expected to elect Cyril Ramaphosa as the new president at 2pm local time (12:00 GMT) on Thursday and have him take the oath of office, the party’s chief whip said. Mbete’s office also said that the finance minister was scheduled to deliver a budget speech at 12:00 GMT on February 21, as planned.