South African party calls for Zuma to resign

Johannesburg: The Congress of the People (Cope), South Africa's third-biggest political party, called for President Jacob Zuma to resign after he apologised for fathering a child out of wedlock.

If Zuma's apology was sincere, the only logical conclusion would be for him to assume the consequences and resign, Mbhazima Shilowa, deputy president of Cope and a former senior member of the ruling African National Congress (ANC), said in an interview yesterday with Johannesburg's SAFM radio.

Zuma's actions drew criticism from newspapers and opposition parties in a country where more than one in nine people have HIV, the virus that causes Aids.

"I deeply regret the pain that I have caused to my family, the African National Congress, the Alliance and South Africans in general," Zuma said on Saturday. He confirmed that he had fathered a child with Sonono Khoza, the daughter of a friend and the chairman of the soccer World Cup's organising committee.

"A number of South Africans have welcomed the president's apology. We consider this matter closed," ANC spokesman Jackson Mthembu said in a phone interview from Cape Town.

South Africa's biggest opposition party, the Democratic Alliance (DA), welcomed Zuma's apology, while saying that "words are not enough. He must now focus on repairing the damage he has done to the fight against HIV/Aids," DA leader Helen Zille said in a statement on Saturday.