Published December 31st, 2007 by Future Atlas
South Africa: the Zuma challenge
As Future Atlas noted more than a year ago, Jacob Zuma presents challenges to the future of South Africa.
Accused of corruption and even rape in the past, he is now closer to power, having been elected head of the African National Congress (ANC), the only party currently able to win national elections.
New corruption charges may derail his rise; if convicted he would be ineligible to run for president of the country in 2009.
Zuma’s situation might produce at least two effects:
- If he is blocked, his followers could be tempted to amend or bend the rules, endangering the primacy of law.
- South African academic Sheila Meintjes told the VOA that the Zuma affair could presage a split within the ANC, between the business-middle class wing on one hand, and the more radical working class elements on the other. This would be a positive development, as it might break the single-party hold on elections.