South Africa’s president of nine years, Thabo Mbeki, was toppled by his own party last weekend after a “long and bitter struggle” with his deputy, Jacob Zuma, says Chris McGreal in The Guardian. Jacob Zuma, the ANC (African National Congress) president, cannot become president of the country yet as he is not currently a member of Parliament, but he is widely expected to take over after elections in 2009. Kgalema Motlanthe, the deputy president of the ANC and a former general secretary of the National Union of Mineworkers, will act as caretaker.
The “unseemly haste” of this political murder shows how ready Mbeki’s ‘comrades’ at the ANC were to plunge their knives in, says Richard Dowden in The Times. Their chance arose when judge Chris Nicholson ruled last week that Zuma had been “the victim of a political plot” by Mbeki. The case revolved around a corrupt 1999 arms deal, in which some $200m was allegedly paid to the ANC and individuals, including Zuma. Nicholson also called for a full inquiry into the arms deal, which may lead to revelations that prevent Zuma running for president.
The news of Mbeki’s ousting was followed by the resignation of ten leading cabinet ministers, including that of Finance Minister Trevor Manuel, the man widely accredited for the pro-market policies that have seen South Africa enjoy unprecedented growth averaging 5% over nearly a decade. Although Zuma sought to allay fears, saying there would be no changes in economic policy, the rand fell 2.9%, only to bounce back when news trickled through that Manuel would “serve the new administration in whatever capacity”, says Barry Bearack in the International Herald Tribune.
Mbeki, it has “regrettably to be said, had increasingly become a disappointment”, says The Independent. Although he managed to sustain impressive economic growth and make some black millionaires, “the townships remained deprived, unemployment rose and inequalities sharpened”. Mbeki’s refusal to accept the link between HIV and Aids, the scourge of his countrymen, contributed to his unpopularity. He also alienated the trade union movement and Communist Party, which represent the majority of have-nots and took over the ANC at grass-roots level.
Zuma is in a tricky position, says Dowden. His strongest supporters are militants in the union movement and the party, and he risks losing them if he pursues Mbeki’s pro-business agenda. Mbeki was wrong to try and get rid of Zuma by “twisting the law”, but he may also have been “absolutely right”, says Peter Preston in The Guardian. “This succession is a disaster.” Can a President Zuma hold together the “furious factions” of the ANC, sustain economic growth during a global credit crunch, help the poor and cut crime? Without South Africa, there can be no ‘African Renaissance’, yet now the country’s future hangs in the balance. It does, says The Australian. Mr Motlanthe will “need all his skills as a bridge builder” to steer the country through an “expected turbulent nine months” until the elections next April.