When President Jacob Zuma of South Africa resigned on Thursday (AEDT), he did not yield to South Africa's voters, courts or opposition parties, but to his own party, the African National Congress.

Zuma once said the party was more important than the nation itself, contending that it would govern South Africa until Jesus returned. And during his nearly nine-year presidency that was marred by scandal, corruption and mismanagement, ANC officials had repeatedly rallied behind him as their leader.