Johannesburg - Trade union federation Cosatu has called on President Jacob Zuma to step down and says it no longer believes in his leadership abilities.
Cosatu, which is the ANC's alliance partner, said on Tuesday that it no longer believed that Zuma was the right person to lead the ANC (movement), the alliance and the country.
"We think that after his undeniable contribution to the both the movement and government, the time has arrived for him to step down and allow the country to be led forward by a new collective at government level," said Cosatu general-secretary Bheki Ntshalintshali.
Ntshalintshali listed a number of concerns which included what Cosatu called a series of "controversies" surrounding the Presidnet, such as the influence of the Gupta family and the Constitutional Court verdict on Nkandla.
This is the ANC's second alliance partner to make this call, after the South African Communist Party (SACP) made the decision for Zuma to step down, and on Monday there were reports that the party was planning a strategy on how to remove Zuma.
Cosatu's statements follow the Zuma's shock decision last week to recall several ministers which included former Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan and his deputy Mcebisi Jonas.
Gordhan was replaced by former Home Affairs Minister Malusi Gigaba.
The president's decision did not sit well with rating agencies as S&P Global took the decision to downgrade the country sovereignty to junk status on Monday.