Zuma under pressure: State of the Nation Address postponed

Parliament’s speaker Baleka Mbete announced on Tuesday that the state of the nation address has been postponed.

Mbete said: “We’ve decided to approach the president of the republic to postpone the state of the nation address.

“We need to create room for establishing a much more conducive atmosphere in Parliament.”

This comes after opposition parties requested that the speech, which President Jacob Zuma was scheduled to deliver on Thursday, be postponed until after a no-confidence vote on Zuma’s leadership.

The speaker of parliament has scheduled the no-confidence vote for February 22.

Zuma, whose presidency has been marred by graft scandals and economic decline, has been in a weakened position since he was replaced as leader of the ANC by Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa in December.