Jacob Zuma triumphed at the African National Congress on Tuesday, parlaying his charisma and widespread popularity to win the governing party’s top job and put him in line to become South Africa’s next president.
His overwhelming victory — 2,329 votes to President Thabo Mbeki’s 1,505 — came despite rape and corruption scandals that had threatened his political career.
Chaos and jubilation erupted as party officials announced the election of Zuma — a former guerrilla leader who turned an anti-apartheid song, “Bring me my machine gun,” into his anthem.
Then he and Mbeki, both 65-year-old veterans of the ANC in exile, mounted the stage and embraced. But the contest was the most bitterly divisive in the history of the party, and Mbeki’s loss raised questions about whether he would remain the country’s president for the rest of his term.
Zuma was acquitted of rape last year but could still face bribery charges in a multimillion-dollar arms deal. His supporters say he is innocent and that the scandals were part of a political smear campaign that should not prevent him from becoming ANC president.
Zuma had rallied ANC members who wanted a change from Mbeki, who guided post-apartheid South Africa to sustained economic growth during the past few years, but has been accused of moving too slowly to lift millions out of poverty and being too aloof from the grassroots.
Much has been made of the personality and class differences between Mbeki and Zuma. Mbeki is a foreign-educated academic who sprinkles his speeches with Shakespeare. Zuma had little formal schooling, was a leader of the exiled ANC’s military wing, and, like former President Nelson Mandela, served time at the Robben Island prison.
Zuma spent months building his support among the ANC rank-and-file and the trade union movement, but also reached out to religious groups, white Afrikaners and the business community in the final weeks of campaigning.
Supporters of Zuma also won five other top posts, including Kgalema Motlanthe, a former trade unionist and powerful ANC figure, as deputy president, and a top Communist Party official for secretary-general. Given that Zuma may have to step down if prosecutors revive corruption charges against him, the deputy presidency takes on particular significance.
