Cape Town: South Africa’s opposition demanded on Thursday that the ruling ANC party end confusion over President Jacob Zuma’s expected departure from office as slow-motion handover talks continued in Cape Town.

ANC party officials met with Zuma on Sunday to request his resignation, but he refused, triggering a week of dramatic political manoeuvering.

Cyril Ramaphosa, the president-in-waiting, has said that “transition” talks with Zuma were making progress.

But he gave no further details and admitted that the process was causing “uncertainty surrounding the position of head of state”.

Leader of the main opposition Democratic Alliance (DA) party Mmusi Maimane warned that South Africa could not “be held in limbo while Cyril Ramaphosa and Jacob Zuma... fight over the terms of Zuma’s exit”.

“We need a swift resolution to this impasse as soon as possible,” Maimane added, calling for parliament to vote in a no-confidence motion against the president on Tuesday.

Zuma, whose rule since 2009 has been dominated by graft scandals, has been under growing pressure to quit in favour of Ramaphosa, his deputy and the new African National Congress (ANC) party leader.

Maimane also said that Zuma, who is facing numerous legal cases, must not be offered criminal amnesty as part of a resignation deal.

“He is not above the law,” Maimane said, predicting that “Jacob Zuma will retire in prison.” Spokesman for the radical opposition Economic Freedom Fighters party Mbuyiseni Ndlozi told the News24 site that it would seek a “national shutdown” to force Zuma out.

The TimesLIVE news site on Thursday published audio of ANC treasurer general Paul Mashatile saying that Zuma had refused to resign and that the ANC had been ready to recall him at a crunch meeting.

That gathering, scheduled for Wednesday, was cancelled at short notice with Ramaphosa saying the move would “enable President Zuma and myself to conclude our discussions... in the coming days”.

“Normally when a sitting president is asked to step down, it happens. But President Zuma has declared his unwillingness,” said Amanda Gouws, a political science professor at Stellenbosch University.

Agence France-Presse