South Africa's Zuma Announces Resignation After ANC Pressure

Corruption is Everywhere - in S Africa it fell the President

Ramaphosa elected as new President

By Susan McFarland and Daniel Uria

South African President Jacob Zuma resigned from office Wednesday amid pressure from

the African National Congress. Photo by Monika Graff/UPI | License Photo

UPI -- South African President Jacob Zuma resigned from office Wednesday following pressure from the African National Congress.

Zuma, 75, announced his resignation in a televised address, saying while he disagrees with the ANC's decision he has always been a dedicated member.

"I fear no motion of no confidence or impeachment ... I will continue to serve the people of South Africa and the ANC. I will dedicate my life to continuing to work for the execution of the policies of our organization," he said.

"No life should be lost in my name. The ANC should never been divided in my name. I have therefore come to the decision to resign as president of the republic with immediate effect."

The ANC ordered Zuma to leave office by the end of Tuesday -- or risk being removed by force.

Zuma, the subject of several "no-confidence" votes in recent years, has resisted pressure to resign and remained president amid repeated corruption allegations. Under South Africa's national constitution, Zuma could not be forced out of office.

The ANC said if Zuma did not resign by the end of Wednesday, proceedings would begin to legally force him out.

During a television interview Wednesday, Zuma said he asked top officials to clarify his wrongdoing, but said, "Nobody has ever been able to tell me what the issue is."

"It's not a new matter. I need to be furnished with what is it that I have done and unfortunately nobody has been able to tell me," he said. "There are processes in the ANC that need to be followed if I have been doing something wrong."

Zuma, South Africa's president since 2009, faces nearly 800 corruption allegations stemming from an arms deal during the 1990s. In 2016, he was ordered by South Africa's top court to repay part of $15 million in public funds it said he misappropriated to upgrade his private home.

Zuma said he was not defying ANC leadership, but disagreeing with its decision to recall him.

"I have never defied the leadership. I said here I do not agree ... because there is no evidence," Zuma said. "I did not defy. I disagreed with the decision because I feel the decision is not right."

Zuma was president of the ANC between 2007 and 2017.

Ramaphosa elected as South Africa's new president

By Susan McFarland

South African Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa (C) will be nominated Thursday to succeed Jacob Zuma as president of South Africa. Zuma resigned Wednesday. File Photo by Kim Ludbrook/EPA-EFE

UPI -- Cyril Ramaphosa was elected as South Africa's new president Thursday after the departure of embattled leader Jacob Zuma.

The announcement of Ramaphosa, the only candidate nominated in South African Parliament Thursday, was met with singing in the National Assembly.

In December, Ramaphosa was elected leader of the African National Congress. Zuma resigned Wednesday following pressure from the ANC, which said if Zuma didn't resign by the end of the day, proceedings would begin to force him out.

Ramaphosa, 65, drew international acclaim for steering talks that ended apartheid, a system of institutionalized racial segregation, and produced South Africa's first democratic constitution. He has served as country's deputy president since 2014.

The new leader, one of South Africa's richest businessmen, was also chairman of the committee that prepared former President Nelson Mandela for release from prison in 1990.

As deputy president, Ramaphosa will assume the role of acting president when Zuma steps down. He said his priority is to revive the country's economy, which will be a tough task with South African unemployment at about 30 percent, and nearly 40 percent for young people.

Addressing government corruption is a step that could improve investor confidence and spark more jobs.

On Wednesday, eight members of the powerful and wealthy Gupta family were arrested and accused of fraud and money laundering. The Guptas have been accused of using their friendship with Zuma to gain political influence.

South Africa has 3 Capitol cities: Pretoria, Bloemfontein, and Cape Town. - It's a long story!

Stolen Donations, Tax Fraud, Abusive Priests: Lawsuit Alleges Corruption Among Greek Orthodox Church Leaders

Corruption is Everywhere

 - even the Greek Orthodox Church in Toronto?

By Lauren Pelley, CBC News 

Sotirios Athanassoulas has been Metropolitan, or archbishop, of the Greek Orthodox Metropolis of Toronto since 1996.

(Greek Orthodox Metropolis of Toronto website)

A civil lawsuit filed against some of the most powerful members of Canada's Greek Orthodox community includes allegations of verbal and physical abuse by priests, money for a sick baby stolen from a church fundraiser, and sex offenders placed in Toronto churches — a controversy some say is part of an ongoing Greek "turf war."

The board of directors for the Greek Community of Toronto (GCT), a non-profit charity representing more than 150,000 Greek Canadians, filed the lawsuit against the Greek Orthodox Metropolis of Toronto, its metropolitan — the Greek Orthodox equivalent of an archbishop — as well as four priests, several members of one priest's family, and other individuals connected with the church community.

It's the latest chapter in a complicated, years-long dispute between the GCT and the four Toronto churches it owns, which are staffed by priests appointed by the metropolis.

The GCT, which has roughly 6,000 paid members, has strived to ensure financial accountability and transparency surrounding donations made at those churches "with very little success" over three years of mediation efforts, said spokesperson Gina Tassopoulos.

"That's led us to believe the funds are being misappropriated."

In the statement of claim, the GCT alleges the Greek Orthodox Metropolis and Metropolitan Sotirios Athanassoulas have personally benefited from a share of church donations, without declaring the money "as a taxable benefit or income to the Canada Revenue Agency."

The Greek Community of Toronto, which has roughly 6,000 paid members, believes church funds 'are being misappropriated,' says spokesperson Gina Tassopoulos.

(Jon Castell/CBC News)

Allegations 'wholly without merit,' says lawyer

Also in the statement, filed on Oct. 18, the GCT alleges that thousands of dollars in money raised through a 2012 fundraiser for a baby with a serious heart condition may not have reached the child's family. Donations totalled well over $50,000, the GCT alleges.

Fundraising efforts for Baby Alexander made headlines that year; the eight-month-old needed urgent transportation from Greece to Toronto for heart surgery at the Hospital for Sick Children. 

The GCT alleges the metropolis announced that $10,000 was being sent to the charity Global Angel on behalf of the child's family, without disclosing the "actual total amount of the collected donations."

"In fact, Global Angel only received the paltry sum of $1,450," continues the statement of claim, which alleges the metropolis "unlawfully and fraudulently" used the remaining portion of the donations for their personal benefit or the benefit of other charities.

But Gail Courneyea, founder of Global Angel, told CBC Toronto the charity's records show it did indeed receive $10,000 from the Metropolis. 

"I really don't know where the numbers are coming from ... We were surprised that was mentioned, that we didn't get it," she said.

The civil lawsuit's statement of claim alleges a priest at St. Irene Chrisovalantou Greek Orthodox Church, just north of Danforth Avenue in the heart of Toronto's Greek community, would regularly 'verbally abuse and physically assault' members of a women's group at the church.

(Jon Castell/CBC News)

The statement of claim also alleges a priest at St. Irene Chrisovalantou Greek Orthodox Church, just north of Danforth Avenue in the heart of the city's Greek community, would regularly "verbally abuse and physically assault" members of a women's group at the church. The GCT would not elaborate on the nature of the alleged abuse.

Along with St. Irene, the GCT owns the Virgin Mary Greek Orthodox Cathedral Church in Parkdale, St. Demetrios Greek Orthodox Church in Thorncliffe, and St. John the Baptist Greek Orthodox church in Scarborough.

Within some of the churches, the GCT alleges there is a "history of inappropriate conduct by priests negligently appointed by the Metropolitan or the Metropolis."

In 2015, for instance, a priest at St. John helped place a Romanian Orthodox Priest, Ioan Pop, at the church, the statement of claim alleges. Athanassoulas knew that Pop "was a sex offender on bail, at that time," it alleges.

George Karayannides, lawyer representing Athanassoulas and the metropolis, told CBC Toronto that both are aware of the lawsuit but have yet to file a statement of defence. 

The allegations in the statement of claim are "wholly without merit and the claim will be zealously defended," Karayannides said.   

Terry Maropoulos, a staff member with the metropolis, told CBC Toronto that the organization won't comment.

None of the allegations in the lawsuit have been proven in court.

In the statement of claim, the GCT alleges that thousands of dollars collected in a 2012 fundraiser for an infant with a serious heart condition may not have reached the family of Baby Alexander. (Global Angel website)

GCT, Metropolis tension goes back 40 years

"The GCT is simply seeking to uphold the recognized principles of transparency, accountability, responsibility and governance and to ensure compliance with the Charities Act, Canada Revenue Agency regulations and other laws and regulations of Canada," reads a statement from the organization.

"This is a fair and reasonable expectation."

George Gekas — a former president of the GCT who says he left the post within weeks — feels the situation is less clear cut.

He believes the lawsuit is part of an ongoing "turf war" between the community organization and the church, two interconnected groups both woven into the fabric of Greek Orthodox life. 

"The relations between the [archbishop] and the Greek community of Toronto has been, at best, problematical at times," he said, adding the religious organization often encroaches on the community organization, and vice versa.

Tassopoulos said issues between the GCT and the metropolis go back decades, and she hopes the lawsuit leads to a settlement and "some sort of peace." 

"It would put a lot of things to rest that have happened over the last 40 years, hopefully," she said.