Zuma versus Mbeki in ANC elections
THE African National Congress (ANC) held a hotly contested election on Monday that could clear the way for the controversial Jacob Zuma to assume South Africa’s presidency. Repeatedly declared a political corpse, the axed deputy President bounced back as front runner in the race for the ANC’ top
THE African National Congress (ANC) held a hotly contested election on Monday that could clear the way for the controversial Jacob Zuma to assume South Africa’s presidency. Repeatedly declared a political corpse, the axed deputy President bounced back as frontrunner in the race for the ANC’ top post. A high-profile rape trial pitted him against women, he sparked ire with anti-gay comments, and ignorance about HIV earned him the wrath of AIDS activists, while links with a convicted fraudster raised concerns over his scruples.
But a darling of the poor and disenfranchised, Zuma took a resounding lead over President Thabo Mbeki in nominations ahead of the party’s elective conference, even getting the vote of the ANC Women’s League.
“In Zuma we see ourselves, we see humility, down to earth. We see somebody we can speak to, who has a genuine love for people,†COSATU general secretary Zwelinzima Vavi said. If elected party leader, 65-year-old Zuma will be almost certain to become head of state when Mbeki steps down in 2009.
Who is Jacob Zuma?
Born in rural Inkandla in the KwaZulu-Natal province, Zuma grew up without formal schooling, the son of a domestic worker.
He joined the ANC in 1958 and was convicted of trying to overthrow the apartheid government five years later, serving 10 years on the Robben Island prison colony alongside Nelson Mandela.
He went into exile for 12 years in Mozambique, Swaziland and Zambia — where he was the ANC’s chief of intelligence. Zuma returned to South Africa after the ANC was unbanned in 1990, and was key in talks with the then National Party regime that led to a negotiated national unity government. He later became a provincial economic minister in KwaZulu-Natal before being elected deputy national president in 1999.
But he was fired in June 2005 after his financial adviser Schabir Shaik was jailed for canvassing bribes for Zuma, who now faces being recharged himself after losing a battle to declare a series of arrest warrants illegal.
Zuma’s fiercely loyal supporters never wavered, claiming he is the victim of a political conspiracy.
Always quick to break into dance, he has become the centre of a popular culture partly built around his trade-mark song “Umshini Wami†(Bring me my machine gun).
Thousands chanted the song outside courtrooms country-wide during Zuma’s appearances, wearing T-shirts with slogans like “100 percent Zulu boy.â€
Zuma has gained mass appeal off Mbeki’s perceived inability to bond with the common man and his image as autocratic, high-brow and aloof.
Zuma was cleared of rape last year, but was ridiculed for testifying he took a shower after having had consensual sex with his HIV-positive accuser. The acquittal did little to appease a middle-class thoroughly unnerved by the unknown realm of a Zuma presidency.
Also unconvinced was Nobel laureate Desmond Tutu, who recently urged the ANC not to elect a leader who would embarrass the party.
In typical fashion, Zuma has embarked on an international charm offensive, touring India, England and the United States to put investors’ minds at ease.
“Nothing is going to change,†he was quoted as telling businessmen concerned over his support from the unions and Communist party.
Who is Thabo Mbeki?
A visionary strategist or an aloof autocrat? While Mbeki has been silent on his motivation for seeking a third term as party leader, one thing is clear to observers: he does not want corruption-accused Zuma to win.
Mark Gevisser, one of few who has had one-on-one encounters with the president, speculates that Mbeki most likely felt he was the last defence against a Zuma-run “neo-colonial African basket case.â€
“I think they (Mbeki’s advisers) have persuaded him that he is the thin blue line between a successful future and a future that would confirm all the Afro-pessimism of the country,†said Gevisser, author of a new Mbeki biography.
Reviews of 65-year-old Mbeki’s eight-year tenure as head of state vary between a resounding economic success and a disaster for national morale.
He is hailed for building a strong economy and for initiating steps to put the African continent on a stronger footing, including his brainchild New Partnership for Africa’s Development.
But he is judged harshly for his dalliance with dissident AIDS theories which many believe delayed the introduction of state-sponsored therapy, for not dealing decisively with crime, and his “quiet diplomacy†towards South Africa’s troubled neighbour Zimbabwe.
Thabo Mvuyelwa Mbeki was born in 1942 to ANC stalwart Govan Mbeki, a fellow political prisoner of South Africa’s first black president, Nelson Mandela.
The young Thabo showed an early penchant for books and was forced into an early adulthood, with his activist parents’ extended absences often blamed for his remoteness.
He joined the ANC Youth League at 14 and was expelled from school three years later for political activities, completing his schooling from home.
He left South Africa in 1962 for exile in Tanzania, Britain — where he obtained a Masters degree in Economics — and the former Soviet Union where he underwent military training. He also spent time in Zambia, Botswana, Swaziland and Nigeria, ultimately spending nearly three decades abroad.
Mbeki was key in negotiations with the former apartheid regime that led to the formation of a national unity government in 1994 in which he was Mandela’s deputy.
Effectively running the country’s day to day affairs while Mandela as president wooed investors, whites and other erstwhile political foes in a nation torn apart by decades of minority rule, Mbeki had an apparently seamless ascendancy to the top job in 1999.
His 1996 “I am an African†speech — which reached out to all parts of the Rainbow Nation — warmed the hearts of many South Africans, particularly whites who perceived it as an embrace of their identity.
But years down the line, Mbeki is perceived to have helped re-racialise South African society through his frequent statements on economic and other inequalities between black and white.
In February’s budget, Mbeki’s Finance Minister Trevor Manuel posted the first budget surplus in recent memory and forecast five percent annual growth to the end of the decade.
While few deny his economic successes, the ANC's leftist allies accuse his government of not being socially-minded enough.
Attempts at social upliftment have not kept pace with demand, with millions still living in shacks while unemployment stands at nearly 40 percent.
AFP
But a darling of the poor and disenfranchised, Zuma took a resounding lead over President Thabo Mbeki in nominations ahead of the party’s elective conference, even getting the vote of the ANC Women’s League.
“In Zuma we see ourselves, we see humility, down to earth. We see somebody we can speak to, who has a genuine love for people,†COSATU general secretary Zwelinzima Vavi said. If elected party leader, 65-year-old Zuma will be almost certain to become head of state when Mbeki steps down in 2009.
Who is Jacob Zuma?
Born in rural Inkandla in the KwaZulu-Natal province, Zuma grew up without formal schooling, the son of a domestic worker.
He joined the ANC in 1958 and was convicted of trying to overthrow the apartheid government five years later, serving 10 years on the Robben Island prison colony alongside Nelson Mandela.
He went into exile for 12 years in Mozambique, Swaziland and Zambia — where he was the ANC’s chief of intelligence. Zuma returned to South Africa after the ANC was unbanned in 1990, and was key in talks with the then National Party regime that led to a negotiated national unity government. He later became a provincial economic minister in KwaZulu-Natal before being elected deputy national president in 1999.
But he was fired in June 2005 after his financial adviser Schabir Shaik was jailed for canvassing bribes for Zuma, who now faces being recharged himself after losing a battle to declare a series of arrest warrants illegal.
Zuma’s fiercely loyal supporters never wavered, claiming he is the victim of a political conspiracy.
Always quick to break into dance, he has become the centre of a popular culture partly built around his trade-mark song “Umshini Wami†(Bring me my machine gun).
Thousands chanted the song outside courtrooms country-wide during Zuma’s appearances, wearing T-shirts with slogans like “100 percent Zulu boy.â€
Zuma has gained mass appeal off Mbeki’s perceived inability to bond with the common man and his image as autocratic, high-brow and aloof.
Zuma was cleared of rape last year, but was ridiculed for testifying he took a shower after having had consensual sex with his HIV-positive accuser. The acquittal did little to appease a middle-class thoroughly unnerved by the unknown realm of a Zuma presidency.
Also unconvinced was Nobel laureate Desmond Tutu, who recently urged the ANC not to elect a leader who would embarrass the party.
In typical fashion, Zuma has embarked on an international charm offensive, touring India, England and the United States to put investors’ minds at ease.
“Nothing is going to change,†he was quoted as telling businessmen concerned over his support from the unions and Communist party.
Who is Thabo Mbeki?
A visionary strategist or an aloof autocrat? While Mbeki has been silent on his motivation for seeking a third term as party leader, one thing is clear to observers: he does not want corruption-accused Zuma to win.
Mark Gevisser, one of few who has had one-on-one encounters with the president, speculates that Mbeki most likely felt he was the last defence against a Zuma-run “neo-colonial African basket case.â€
“I think they (Mbeki’s advisers) have persuaded him that he is the thin blue line between a successful future and a future that would confirm all the Afro-pessimism of the country,†said Gevisser, author of a new Mbeki biography.
Reviews of 65-year-old Mbeki’s eight-year tenure as head of state vary between a resounding economic success and a disaster for national morale.
He is hailed for building a strong economy and for initiating steps to put the African continent on a stronger footing, including his brainchild New Partnership for Africa’s Development.
But he is judged harshly for his dalliance with dissident AIDS theories which many believe delayed the introduction of state-sponsored therapy, for not dealing decisively with crime, and his “quiet diplomacy†towards South Africa’s troubled neighbour Zimbabwe.
Thabo Mvuyelwa Mbeki was born in 1942 to ANC stalwart Govan Mbeki, a fellow political prisoner of South Africa’s first black president, Nelson Mandela.
The young Thabo showed an early penchant for books and was forced into an early adulthood, with his activist parents’ extended absences often blamed for his remoteness.
He joined the ANC Youth League at 14 and was expelled from school three years later for political activities, completing his schooling from home.
He left South Africa in 1962 for exile in Tanzania, Britain — where he obtained a Masters degree in Economics — and the former Soviet Union where he underwent military training. He also spent time in Zambia, Botswana, Swaziland and Nigeria, ultimately spending nearly three decades abroad.
Mbeki was key in negotiations with the former apartheid regime that led to the formation of a national unity government in 1994 in which he was Mandela’s deputy.
Effectively running the country’s day to day affairs while Mandela as president wooed investors, whites and other erstwhile political foes in a nation torn apart by decades of minority rule, Mbeki had an apparently seamless ascendancy to the top job in 1999.
His 1996 “I am an African†speech — which reached out to all parts of the Rainbow Nation — warmed the hearts of many South Africans, particularly whites who perceived it as an embrace of their identity.
But years down the line, Mbeki is perceived to have helped re-racialise South African society through his frequent statements on economic and other inequalities between black and white.
In February’s budget, Mbeki’s Finance Minister Trevor Manuel posted the first budget surplus in recent memory and forecast five percent annual growth to the end of the decade.
While few deny his economic successes, the ANC's leftist allies accuse his government of not being socially-minded enough.
Attempts at social upliftment have not kept pace with demand, with millions still living in shacks while unemployment stands at nearly 40 percent.
AFP