kutokuwa musinzi si kigezo cha democracy ya kweli watu wanaangalia mambo mengine pia kwani hapa kwetu hatuna viongozi wazinzi tuliowachagua?
The times said:Mr Zuma, a controversial populist who has portrayed himself as the champion of the poor, will now be in pole position to become South Africas third black president in national elections due in 2009.
Voting will begin early today. The result is expected before the end of the day, but many of Mr Mbekis closest aides appeared to accept that the battle was lost. A former aide of Mr Mbeki told The Timesthat he believed the unruly scenes had cost Mr Zuma some votes but that he would still win.
Zuma represents everything that is negative about modern South Africa corruption, mob rule, sexism and violence against women, he said.
Bongolander: We said the same thing to JK in 2005, that he is an economist, mtu wa watu, anajali wanyonge n.k. What is needed here is not an experiment. Wanasiasa wanaoahidi mambo mengi kama JZ na JK ni upuuzi mtupu. Unatakiwa ahadi iwe analytical (utapata wapi extra money ku-fulfil ahadi zako wakati unasema kwamba RSA ni nchi ambayo it has a system in place ? Mandela aliahidi kujenga nyumba kwa wanyonge, hakuweza, JZ yeye atafanya nini tofauti ?
100% Zuma will be the next SA President. Kwa mujibu wa watu kutoka ndani ya ANC, Mbeki kwenye miaka yake miwili ya mwisho amekuwa bogus, amefanya fyongo nyingi na he is no longer good for the country. Lakini Zuma anaweza kuwa mzuri kwa nchi kama aliyosema atayatekeleza kweli. Elimu yake ni ndogo sana, ni kama hajaenda shule kabisa amepata elimu ya kufuta ujinga akiwa gerezani, lakini kwa sababu Afrika kusini ni nchi ambayo it has a system in place hilo haliwezi kuwa tatizo sana. lakini unaweza kusema kuwa Zuma ni mwenyekiti anayefuata wa ANC na eventually rais.
Jonathan Clayton in Johannesburg said:
Jacob Zuma, South Africas most controversial politician, defeated Thabo Mbeki to win the presidency of the ruling African National Congress (ANC) in the process dealing his arch rival an unprecedented humiliation and putting himself firmly in line to be the countrys next president.
After two years of bitter political in-fighting, the most divisive ANC conference on record resulted in Mr Zuma defeating Mr Mbeki, the South African President, by 2,329 votes to 1,505.
The rebuke to Mr Mbeki, which may prematurely end his political career, was enhanced by pro-Zuma candidates taking a clean sweep of the top six positions on the partys National Executive Committee. Chaos erupted in the hall as the result was delivered, with delegates pumping their fists in the air while, outside, fireworks lit up the night sky. Its a whitewash, a clean sweep, shouted one Zuma supporter while another delegate screamed into his mobile phone: The members have taken back the party.
A stone-faced Mr Mbeki, who dismissed Mr Zuma as the countrys Vice-President in 2005 after he was named in an arms corruption scandal, embraced his rival on the stage after the results were read out. Obliged to step down as President of South Africa in 2009, Mr Mbeki had hoped for a third term as party leader so he could name his succesor and secure his legacy as the architect of the longest period of growth for Africas largest economy since the Second World War. But Mr Zumas resounding success will increase the pressure on Mr Mbeki to hold presidential elections before 2009. Victory capped a remarkable comeback for the populist Mr Zuma, who is now almost certain to become the ANCs candidate for president in 2009.
It is an election he is assured of winning, given the ANCs continuing political dominance in the country 13 years after the end of apartheid. The only threat to his candidacy appears to be fresh corruption charges being brought against him after defeat in a recent court bid to have a series of search warrants declared illegal. Securing the presidency would give him judicial immunity. Commentators speculated that the victory was a watershed moment for the country, now in its second post-apartheid decade as a democracy. But the prospect of a Zuma presidency terrifies many South Africans, who fear the country is in real danger of repeating the mistakes of many post-independence African nations.
Foreign investors have also indicated much concern over recent developments, despite a recent charm offensive from Mr Zuma, who says that the countrys market-friendly policies will remain. Critics blame Mr Mbekis downfall on his arrogance and detachment from the partys grassroots. His refusal to accept dissent and his blind support of loyal, but incompetent, ministers, particularly in the areas of health and crime, has fed a grassroots rebellion. Mr Zuma, who portrayed himself as the victim of a political conspiracy, found a willing constituency on which to build an amazing political comeback. As well as fighting corruption charges, he was acquitted last year in a rape case involving a family friend who was half his age although he was widely ridiculed for testifying that he had showered after sex with his HIV-positive accuser in order to prevent infection. A former detainee on Robben Island and leader of the ANCs military wing, Mr Zuma has long been one of the most popular leaders among the partys militants. He portrayed himself as the champion of the poor, particularly the 40 per cent of the black population that is no better off today than at the end of white rule in 1994.
His earthy charm contrasts sharply with the aloof Mr Mbeki, an intellectual with a penchant for quoting Shakespeare and a distaste for street politics and the mob. The conference, which opened on Sunday, has been marred by ugly scenes unthinkable during the long struggle against apartheid, when the ANC prided itself on its discipline and unity, at least in public. Delegates supporting different factions at the first contested leadership election in more than 55 years taunted and jeered one another and senior party figures struggled to maintain order. Although Mr Mbeki can point to an uninterrupted period of growth, unemployment is unofficially estimated to be about 40 per cent. He served as deputy president to Nelson Mandela before taking power in 1999.
Kgalema Motlanthe, a former trade unionist, easily took the post of Deputy President a position that could take on particular significance if Mr Zuma were forced to step down if convicted on the corruption charges.
anna said:Well done Mr Zuma. The Anc chose its two candidates for election - no good trashing Zuma now. He was one of two choices. Also remember the arms deal started with Mbeki - who oversaw the whole thing...... Politics is a dirty game. Lets hope with a new guard we have some of the old cronies in their flashy 4 x 4 out.
Arthur said:I cannot understand how a man, with no education, (4 years of schooling, all he achieved was a Std2 ) can possibly be elected as a possible president to lead South Africa!
This is a man that cannot balance his own books. Rather silly I'd say!
Mbeki is no angel, but SA has had a fair amount of growth. With this new person in charge, Mugabeque outllook on life et al, I doubt if I would serve under this man.
My black people that work for my company have asked to leave SA with me, for greener pastures.
But Mbeki only has himself to blame with his autocratic style of govenence, placing incompotent people is charge of departments they know little or nothing about (health, security, safety etc) Seems like it all backfired on him.
Will the last person leaving South Africa, please feed the pigs!
C Reader said:Don't worry about Zuma. He's not going to destablise the South African economy and chase investors away. If anything, he will make the country a more investment-friendly place by getting tougher on crime and giving skilled white expats the condifence to return home and make a contribution. Zuma is a Zulu and history tells us they are the most disciplined of all African nations, despite their rather over excited behaviour at the ANC conference. By the way, Zuma gets on very well with the Afrikaaners, the people who have had the most to lose since the ANC took over.
That says a lot.
Jacob Zuma, the new leader of South Africa's governing party, now faces being charged a second time with corruption, state prosecutors say.
He has been in court several time in recent years - his supporters say he is the victim of a political conspiracy:
June 2005
Mr Zuma's close associate Schabir Shaik found guilty of fraud and corruption in connection with a $4.8bn arms deal. Judge Hilary Squires said there was evidence of "a mutually beneficial symbiosis" and that payments by Shaik to Mr Zuma "can only have generated a sense of obligation in the recipient".
June 2005
Sacked by President Thabo Mbeki as South Africa's deputy president after an outcry over Shaik's conviction.
October 2005
Charged with corruption.
Weeks later the HIV-positive daughter of a family friend accuses him of rape.
February 2006
Mr Zuma goes on trial for rape. He denied the charges.
April 2006
Acquitted of rape.
But criticised in the press for his remarks about sex:
that he knew she wanted to have sex with him because she was wearing a short traditional wrap-around that it was against his Zulu culture to turn down a woman and that he did not use a condom but took a shower to "protect" against HIV infection.
At the time, he was head of South Africa's Aids council.
May 2006
ANC votes to reinstate him in his party duties.
September 2006
His corruption trial is struck from the court list when the prosecution asks for yet another delay to gather evidence.
November 2007
The court of appeal opens the way for charges to be brought again when it rules that the seizure by police of incriminating documents from his home and office was legal.
December 2007
ANC elects him as party president, defeating Mr Mbeki in a bitter vote, making him favourite to become South Africa's next president, after elections due in 2009.
Director of public prosecutions Mokotedi Mpshe announces that there is sufficient evidence to bring corruption charges.
South Africa: Zuma Gets Madiba Thumbs-Up
Cape Argus (Cape Town)
22 December 2007
Angela Quintal
Cape Town
ANC president Jacob Zuma has received the official seal of approval from Nelson Mandela, who has praised him as a unifier, reconciler and a man committed to collective leadership.
He has also urged the divided ANC to rally behind Zuma.
Mandela, who chose to step down as party leader after one term in favour of Thabo Mbeki in 1997, said it was inevitable the results of the Polokwane elections would be interpreted by some "as an overwhelming victory for one camp or faction over another".
In a message of congratulation to the ruling party's new guard, he said: "Our experience of Comrade Zuma is of a person and leader who is inclusive in his approach, a unifier and one who values reconciliation and collective leadership.
"We have no doubt that he will bring those well-known characteristics to his task of leading our organisation."
Mandela, who opted not to take sides in the leadership battle, did not attend the conference in Limpopo.
Instead he sent a message to delegates calling for unity, prompting a special word of thanks from Zuma in his maiden speech as ANC president on Thursday.
Referring to the newly elected 86-member national executive committee which will lead the party for the next five years, he said: "Through the democratic processes of the organisation they as a collective have been mandated by the membership with the great responsibility of steering and guiding us through this challenging period ahead.
"We have full confidence that they will approach and execute this important national task with wisdom, humility and dedication to the common good."
Last week, Winnie Madikizela-Mandela made an impassioned plea to her ANC comrades to heal the deep rifts in the party and said she feared what would happen after Polokwane, given the divisions.
Madikizela-Mandela, who on the eve of the conference launched a highly publicised but unsuccessful last-minute bid to mediate between Mbeki and Zuma, mustered the most votes during the election for additional NEC members.
She returns to the highest leadership body in between conferences after an absence of five years.