ANC Picks Zuma to Lead, Legal Troubles Continue

At a meeting of the African National Congress on Tuesday, Jacob Zuma was elected leader, defeating current South African President Thabo Mbeki. Mr. Zuma is now frontrunner for the next presidential election two years hence. He has promised to be a more populist leader, more interventionist and more concerned with those blacks left behind after the fall of apartheid. The trouble with Mr. Zuma isn’t so much the message as the messenger. The man has significant legal troubles.

Last year, he faced charges of rape. He admitted that he had unprotected sex with a family friend who was HIV positive. In a case of “she said, he said,” the charges were dropped. Mr. Zuma found himself the butt of several jokes when he stated that he showered after the encounter to avoid infection – most South Africans know how pointless that would be. Still, he came out of the affair (forgive the pun) strong enough to win the support of the ANC’s Women’s League.

There is a more serious case, though, involving corruption and fraud. The case caused Mr. Mbeki to fire Mr. Zuma as Deputy President of South Africa in 2005. Mr. Zuma’s former financial adviser Schabir Shaik is currently serving 15 years related to a corrupt arms deal. In 1999, he wrote off Mr. Zuma’s substantial personal debt. Charges against Mr. Zuma were withdrawn last year.

However, acting head of the National Prosecuting Authority, Mokotedi Mpshe (whose surname is indeed spelled that way), yesterday announced that the NPA had enough evidence to revive the corruption charges against Mr. Zuma. According to the BBC, “Speaking on South Africa's 702 Talk Radio, Mokotedi Mpshe said the investigation into Mr. Zuma was complete, and that ‘all we are doing now is tying [up] the loose ends’.”

A hero of the struggle against apartheid, Mr. Zuma is, in some ways, more attractive than Mr. Mbeki. For example, on Zimbabwe Mr. Mbeki has had a policy of quiet diplomacy. Mr. Zuma would be more confrontational – which can only help. However, the election for president of the Republic isn’t until 2009, and that is a very long time in politics. Mr. Zuma may be a convict by then, and that potential doesn’t bode well for the people of South Africa nor their neighbors and allies.

© Copyright 2007 by The Kensington Review, Jeff Myhre, PhD, Editor. No part of this publication may be reproduced without written consent. Produced using Fedora Linux.

Kensington Review Home