Home Affairs Minister Malusi Gigaba will replace Pravin Gordhan as finance minister, it was widely reported late on Thursday night ahead of an announcement of changes to the executive.
President Jacob Zuma sent out a statement just after 11pm that he will be making a special announcement on Thursday, "relating to changes to the National Executive".
Earlier he summoned the rest of the ANC's top six to an urgent meeting in Pretoria, ahead of a widely expected cabinet reshuffle.
It is understood nine ministers, including Gordhan, and six deputy ministers will be affected by the reshuffle.
ANN7 reported the same news, celebrating the fact of the imminent reshuffle and reporting it as fact. The station is owned by the Gupta family who are closely affiliated to Zuma.
The channel reported that Gigaba was the new finance minister, along with ENCA and SABC news.
Gigaba took over the leadership of the ANC Youth League from Peter Mokgaba and was re-elected three times in a row. His was a quiet watch as the longest-serving youth league president, from 1996 to 2004, and he earned the unflattering epithet of lapdog to then-president Thabo Mbeki. He was appointed as deputy home affairs minister in 1996. But he was careful to throw his lot in with Zuma when he replaced Mbeki and his star really rose under his fellow KwaZulu-Natal native. He received senior positions such as Minister of Public Enterprises in November 2010. His move to Home Affairs in May 2014 was seen as a demotion. He however continued to align himself closely with Zuma -- and the controversial Gupta family -- and was said to be eyeing a position in the ANC top six.
The South African Communist Party (SACP) earlier on Thursday said the party was informed by President Jacob Zuma of his intention to axe Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan and his deputy, and the party disagreed with the move.
Speaking at a briefing on Thursday morning at their headquarters in Braamfontein, Johannesburg, SACP second deputy general secretary Solly Mapaila had high praise for Gordhan, saying he should not be fired.
"Comrade Pravin has run that ministry with absolute cleanliness. That is what has impressed us: it is one of the best-run departments. Other ministries should be emulating it. For us as the SACP governance, and clean governance in particular, has become a critical pillar of the national democratic revolution at this current period."
There has been ncreasing opposition to Zuma following a pivotal moment of resistance at the funeral of struggle veteran Ahmed Kathrada on Wednesday, the day before.
There were plenty of hints around dissatisfaction with Zuma and his leadership, including a heavy-hitting speech by Nzimande, general secretary of the South African Communist Party.
But former president Kgalema Motlanthe's eulogy contained the most hard-hitting criticisms of Zuma, using Kathrada's own words calling for Zuma to step down to thunderous applause — including from his own ministers.
Rumours that Zuma was about to reshuffle his Cabinet, specifically removing Gordhan from his post, have being doing the rounds for well over a year.
Curious charges hung over Gordhan's head for months, until they were finally dropped in October last year, leading to rumours that the charges were trumped up to be used by Zuma as a premise for sacking the finance minister.
But the speculation reached fever pitch on Monday when Zuma instructed Gordhan to return home from an investor roadshow.
Zuma faces a rebellion within his own party if he fires Gordhan, with about 12 ministers considering resigning their positions and then fighting for the president's removal, according to four people familiar with the situation. News24 reported:
Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa and some deputy ministers may also resign, the people said, asking not to be identified because the information isn't public. The officials would keep their seats in parliament and possibly support or abstain from a vote of no confidence in the president if it's called by the opposition or by members of the ANC, they said.