African press review 3 April 2017

President Jacob Zuma in the eye of the storm as ANC chiefs and opposition leaders plot his removal from office. Kenya unveils a 40,000-strong task force to weed ghost voters from electoral registers. And an outcry for 8000 Nigerian sex slaves working in Italy for traffickers using 'juju' spells to bind them.

We begin in South Africa and the media blitz about the unprecedented open rebellion against President Jacob Zuma from within the ANC's top six structure over last week's cabinet reshuffle in which his high profile critic Pravin Gordhan was replaced as Finance Minister.

Times Live says that Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa, ANC secretary-general Gwede Mantashe and treasurer-general Zweli Mkhize have publicly distanced themselves from the cabinet reshuffle as political formations allied to the ANC prepare nation-wide protests to pressure Zuma to step down.

According to the newspaper, opposition parties in parliament have also vowed to make life unbearable for Jacob Zuma as they look to capitalise on a fractured ANC caucus in parliament to secure a no-confidence motion that could end Zuma's presidency earlier than scheduled.

Cape Times publishes a column written by Mmusi Maimane, leader of the main opposition Democratic Alliance in which he welcomes a "groundswell of unity among South Africans" against Jacob Zuma’s "hostile takeover of the Treasury and selling of the country to a cabal of looters and liars".

Maimane concludes his article with a warning that by the state of things, Zuma is left with two options: "jump or be pushed".

Mail and Guardian says the Speaker of the National Assembly Baleka Mbete who had expressed her understanding of the 'extreme challenges and sense of anxiety' sparked by the reshuffle has agreed to consider requests for a parliamentary vote on a motion of no confidence in President Jacob Zuma.

BusinessDay says the process is what Zuma backers most fears, arguing that the ANC’s parliamentary caucus has been increasingly critical of the president’s most loyal lieutenants.

Yet City Press wonders if the massive pressure being piled on Zuma will be enough to finally get him out of office, pointing to concerns that the momentum could be lost as Parliament is currently in recess for another 36 days before reopening on the 9th of May.

In Kenya, Daily Nation rolls out a plan by the country’s electoral commission to hire over 40,000 clerks to handle a 30-day voter verification operation ahead of the August 8 general Elections.

The paper quotes the electoral commission’s chief Ezra Chiloba as saying that the taskforce would be charged with confirming registered voters' details and weeding out the names of dead people. Chiloba told The Nation that the operation is scheduled to start work on May 10.

In Nigeria, the Tribune leads with plans by oil tanker drivers to begin an indefinite nation-wide strike today to protest working conditions. According to the newspaper, the Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) said it had grounded all petroleum tankers it operated due to unresolved issues concerning their welfare, poor remuneration, insecurity and bad roads.

The striking truckers reportedly accuse the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps on the roads of “not helping the matter’’, as they often forced tanker drivers to break the seal of their product on the pretext that they were carrying adulterated product.

Also in Nigeria, Vanguard takes up revelations by Britain's anti-slavery czar that over 8000 Nigerian girls are working as sex slaves in the Italian region of Sicily for traffickers using "juju" spells to bind them.

The paper quotes Kevin Hyland appointed to the job in 2014 as saying that the number of women arriving the Italian coast from Nigeria rose to 11,000 last year, representing an 8-fold increase compared to 2014 figures.

Vanguard says an estimated 80 per cent of the women showed signs of being trafficked with false promises of better lives in Europe.

According to the newspaper, the head of the British anti-slavery task-force also warns that the criminal networks are taking advantage of conflict and instability to scale up their trafficking operations through ungoverned routes.