ANC president Cyril Ramaphosa on Sunday gave his strongest indication yet that President Jacob Zuma’s days as the country’s president were numbered‚ saying that the matter "must be addressed"‚ but that Zuma should not be humiliated.

In an interview with the SABC on the ANC’s January 8 statement‚ Ramaphosa cautioned party leaders against humiliating Zuma‚ saying that while "this issue is being raised by everyone … it is a matter that is delicate".

"We should never humiliate president Zuma‚" he said.

In a further indication that he intends to take control of government sooner rather than later‚ Ramaphosa and his colleagues in the ANC’s top six will on Monday meet Finance Minister Malusi Gigaba and Treasury officials to discuss the funding of higher education.

This will be the second meeting Ramaphosa has held with Treasury officials on the matter since the start of 2018.

This story first appeared in Business Day