South Africa's African National Congress party executive committee has decided to "recall" or remove President Jacob Zuma as head of state, a senior ANC source told Reuters on Tuesday, after a 13-hour meeting of the party's top leadership.

Earlier, ANC has given President Jacob Zuma 48 hours to resign as head of state. The clock started ticking on Monday after an eight-hour meeting of the party's leadership. Citing sources, the nation's state broadcaster said the ANC's leader, Cyril Ramaphosa, left the marathon meeting for Zuma's residence to deliver the message in person. Ramaphosa was elected party leader in December, and Zuma has since faced mounting calls from his party to end his scandal-plagued second term a year early. Zuma is also facing a no-confidence motion in parliament set for February 22nd. He is fighting the reinstatement of 783 counts of corruption over a multi-billion dollar government arms deal arranged in the late 1990s when he was deputy president. Zuma had survived calls last year for him to quit. But analysts say there is greater support for him to step down now.