For those who don’t know, Jacob Zuma is the head of the African National Congress (ANC) and the leading candidate for the upcoming election. He also was removed from office after having been linked to corruption charges, is currently on trial for rape (note that this is not his first time), and is characterized to be an AIDS denialist who when questioned about HIV prevention said that he usually takes a shower in order to “cut the risk of contracting HIV.” When I first heard about this, I was shocked and couldn’t believe that such a man will be elected in April with the support of more than half of the nation. The explanation I received through a combination of classes and simply talking to people was a lot more complicated than anticipated.As most people know, in 1994 Nelson Mandela was elected the first president of South Africa. Upon taking office, it was understood that Mandela would hold office for a single term and the presidency would then be handed over to Thabo Mbeki, another leading member of the ANC.
Later, in 2001, well into Mbeki’s first term, prominent ANC members Tony Yengeni, Schabir Skaik, and Jacob Zuma were charged with corruption and fraud over the Arm’s Deal. The first two men were prosecuted and found to be guilty of the alleged charges. Although there was not enough proof to convict Zuma, the deputy president of the ANC at the time, there was substantial evidence linking him to Shaik, his financial advisor. As a result of the scandal, Mbeki announced that considering all the allegations, Zuma would be removed of his duties as government officials should not be legally questioned while in office.
Over the next few years and the remainder of Mbeki’s term, despite overseeing an economic growth of five percent per year (the biggest boom since 1981), he was criticized for not distributing prosperity to poor blacks and for being very dismissive about crime, unemployment, public health, and HIV/AIDS issues. On top of that, many of his policies were classified as ‘neo liberal’ economics and his centralizing tendencies tended to isolate factions of the population. Further, towards the end of his second term he attempted to run for a third time contesting the precedent of a two term maximum making people question whether he had too much power.
As such, in 2007 at the ANC’s Polokuane Conference, Mbeki was replaced as the president of the ANC by Jacob Zuma making Mbeki a lame duck president as he was required to follow the ANC that Zuma was now in charge of. This issue caused a split in power between Mbeki and Zuma supporters and ultimately the Mbeki faction separated from the ANC to form a new political party: COPE. Through a few other issues, Mbeki was removed from office and replaced by interim president Motlanthe until a new president is selected in the upcoming April elections.
