Skip to main content

After Zuma: Why South Africa is at a political crossroads




The ANC party that has governed South Africa since Mandela defeated apartheid is meeting to choose a new leader amid warnings its future is under threat.

It is an important moment for the party - and the country. It is struggling with unemployment of nearly 30%, a dwindling economy where 55% are below the poverty line, and political scandal.
:: What's happening?
Thousands of delegates from the ANC (African National Congress) are gathering outside Johannesburg for a five-day conference where they will vote for a new leader to replace President Jacob Zuma.
:: Why is it important?
The new ANC leader is likely to become South Africa's next president.

But they badly need to repair the party's reputation: it has been tarnished by scandal and corruption allegations against President Zuma and its popularity is falling.
For the first time, the 105-year-old party collected under 60% of the votes in last year's municipal elections.
President Zuma, 75, has weathered no-confidence votes in parliament but his term is ending in 2019 and opening the conference he admitted the party could "implode" and stood at a crossroads.
He called on delegates "to renew our movement and to restore its timeless values" and warned that "petty squabbles" had distracted the ANC.
If the party cannot restore public trust and heal internal divisions it could split into rival factions, and possibly have to form a coalition with other parties.
That would be unprecedented for a party that has been in charge since the historic democratic elections that ended white-minority rule in 1994 and started Nelson Mandela's presidency.
:: What are the scandals about?
Mr Zuma has been accused of corrupt dealings with the wealthy Gupta family, who emigrated to South Africa from India in 1993 and started a range of businesses.
In one case, a plane carrying Gupta family members to a wedding in 2013 was allowed to land at an air base near Pretoria and hundreds of guests given a police escort.
The most serious allegations are that the President allegedly granted the Guptas influence over cabinet appointments and that the family used their friendship with Mr Zuma to win government contracts.
South Africa's High Court has ordered the President to set up a judicial inquiry into an official report, entitled 'State of Capture', which looked at the claims.
The Guptas and President Zuma have denied all wrongdoing, with the South African leader suggesting the claims are politically motivated.
Mr Zuma's mansion has also got him into hot water.
A public prosecutor's report found he used public money to help do up the private residence with non security-related improvements; including a cattle enclosure, amphitheatre, visitor centre, chicken run and swimming pool.
Mr Zuma claimed the pool was in fact a fire-fighting reservoir.
It took a stinging rebuke from South Africa's constitutional court to force him to pay back the funds.
:: Who are the favourites to replace him as ANC leader?
The front runners are ANC deputy president Cyril Ramaphosa and President Zuma's ex-wife, Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma - and the vote is expected to be close.



Mr Ramaphosa, 65, is a former union leader and now one of South Africa's richest businessmen. He is also a veteran of the anti-apartheid struggle and helped the transition to democracy.
But many South Africans remember him as a board member at the Lonmin mine when police shot dead 34 striking workers in 2012.
He has set himself up as a reform candidate and promised to cut down on corruption.
Ms Dlamini-Zuma, 68, is a doctor and a former government minister for health and foreign affairs.
Also an activist during the apartheid years, she went on to become the first female leader of the African Union Commission.
She is promising "radical economic transformation" but some South Africans are worried that she may still be influenced by her ex-husband and even shield him from possible future prosecution.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Drug-fuelled thug attacked man with machete, bottled Co-op worker and rammed car containing child Read more at: https://www.yorkshireeveningpost.co.uk/news/drug-fuelled-thug-attacked-man-with-machete-bottled-co-op-worker-and-rammed-car-containing-child-1-9224580

0 HAVE YOUR SAY A THUG attacked a man with a machete, deliberately crashed into a car in which a child was travelling then attacked a Co-op worker with a bottle when she refused to serve him beer. Nathaniel Stobart was locked up for more than four years over three separate drink and cocaine-fulled offences in Leeds. An adult and child had to jump out of the way of the road rage incident which took place during a Monday morning rush hour. Leeds Crown Court heard the victim of the machete attack almost lost his fingers in the attack. Michael Collins, prosecuting, described how Stobart became violent after spending the evening drinking at a house in Horsforth. Stobart attacked the victim after an argument, punching him unconscious. The 27-year-old then removed an ornamental machete from a wall. The victim suffered serious cuts to his hands as he grabbed the blade in order to protect himself. One of his fingers was almost severed off. He had to undergo surgery and spent 12 days in hospita...
Post a Comment
Read more

Man pays N2.1 million bride price then finds out his bae is already taken

- A man paid N2.1 million for a woman who played him, and now her family won't give the money back - His story led to another man sharing a similar incident, where he paid N1. 8 million for a woman who cheated on him - Their stories led to social media users thinking fathers were using their daughters to get rich A man paid N2.1 miilion for a woman he loved in then he found out she was busy with someone else. Now, her family won't give his money back. Metro FM posted the man's story on their Facebook page. In 2016, an unidentified man paid a lot of money to marry the woman of his dreams, but after he found out he was not the only man in her life, he asked for his N2.1 million back. However, her family has since refused to pay back the lobola he paid for their daughter. "I paid N2.1 million for the woman I loved back home in KZN in 2016 but found out that she’s busy with someone else. All I want is my bride price money back", he said. And, he is apparently...
Post a Comment
Read more

Teenage boy, 16, admits stabbing 15-year-old 'ex-girlfriend' in the stomach in their school canteen lunch queue

attacked with a blade It was alleged at the time that the victim was the boy's former girlfriend - neither of the two can be named for legal reasons. Appearing on a video link at Southampton Crown Court, Hants, the teenager admitted one count of wounding with intent and one count of possessing an offensive weapon. Share this article RELATED ARTICLES University lecturer, 30, just two days into his new job died of ‘rapid’ blood loss after schizophrenic man 'hearing voices' stabbed him in the stomach on his way to work through London park Parents whose newborn daughter was brain damaged when she suffocated during her first breast feed SUE the NHS 'because their midwife failed to warn them of the dangers' Judge Christopher Parker QC told the youngster his next appearance at the court will be on July 4, although he is not expected to be sentenced that day. At the time of the incident Hampshire Constabulary confirmed the 15-year-old schoolgirl suffered a puncture wo...
Post a Comment
Read more