PIETERMARITZBURG, South Africa — The man likely to be South Africa’s next president emerged victorious Friday from a corruption case that dogged him for eight years, getting a hero’s welcome from supporters hungry for a charismatic leader who understands the pain of poverty.
Jacob Zuma, a 66-year-old former guerrilla chief who already survived a rape scandal to rise to the leadership of the governing African National Congress, cleared a legal hurdle to his presidential ambitions when a judge dismissed fraud, money laundering and corruption charges.
“It is a victory for democracy,” Zuma declared to thousands of supporters singing and dancing in a display of his popular support that has been dubbed the “Zsunami.”
While he is lionized by the impoverished masses, Zuma is struggling to connect with business leaders and foreign investors, who worry whether he harbors radical economic ideas.
But even some business leaders wanted the charges against Zuma dropped in the interests of political stability for Africa’s most powerful economy, given threats by his supporters to make the country ungovernable.
Zuma has sought to reassure the business community that he will not lead South Africa down the ruinous path that wrecked the thriving farm- based economy of Zimbabwe, and he wooed multinational investors at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.
Zuma told the crowd he was the victim of a political plot by his rival, President Thabo Mbeki. But Zuma peppered his speech with his typical humor and finished off with an anti-apartheid song that has become his trademark — “Bring Me My Machine Gun.”
On a makeshift stage backed with posters declaring “Hands Off Jacob Zuma,” he savored every moment, singing with gusto and gyrating his hips.
Large numbers of women, from schoolgirls to grandmothers, were in the crowd. His popularity among women is high despite the 2006 trial for allegedly raping a family friend half his age. He was acquitted of the charge.
