17 December, 2007: Pretoria, South Africa -- While the world's attention is focused on the American presidential race and all the underhanded politicking that goes with that, another country is also in the process of finding a president. As you read this, South Africa is in the process of deciding whom its next president will be.

Actually, South Africa does not choose its president, a small group within the ruling party, the African National Congress (ANC), is tasked with that job. And what a job it's turning out to be. The 2008 presidential race has enough backstabbing, infighting, double-crossing, broken promises, and general finagling to make anyone blush.

And unlike the U.S., the South African game seems to have degraded into a 2-horse race between the incumbent, President Thabo Mbeki and the challenger he once fired, Jacob Zuma. So the race is at once professional, personal, political, and ugly.

This is where it gets a little complicated. Mbeki has served two terms as president of the country and, according to the constitution, must step down. The way the ANC has worked in the past was that the person elected as president of the organization was automatically also the country's president.

Mbeki wants to shake things up and stay on as ANC president, while letting someone else take the role as South African president. This is simply blasphemy to the cadres still speaking about revolution and pretending to cling to their Marxist ideologies--when money isn't involved.

So then the race is actually about whom will be the president of the ANC, not South Africa. The traditional practice is the two jobs are actually handled by the same person. If Mbeki wins, this would change and he would, in effect, have the ability to appoint a successor sympathetic to himself and those who have supported him. Shades of Putin.

Should Zuma win, as seems likely at present, well then, all bets are off. Zuma was the deputy president under Mbeki until he was fired for alleged corruption. Zuma's advisor, Schabir Shaik was found guilty of corruption and fraud in 2005 and was sentenced to prison. The judge in the case, Hilary Squires, made mention of "generally corrupt relations" between Shaik and Zuma, although the then deputy president was not involved in that trial.

Zuma's own corruption trial has been ongoing for some time, subject to endless delays due to legal maneuvering. He was also in the dock in 2006 on a charge of rape, where he made a name for himself among the more radical elements of the ANC by singing songs about his machine gun. He was found not guilty, but will always be remembered for another stupid comment he made: when asked why he had unprotected sex with the woman when South Africa has one of the highest rates of AIDS in the world, he said he thought it was OK since he had a shower afterwards.

Starting with a bang

The first day, of what was to be the final hurdle of the election process, was 16 December, and was a complete anathema to many ANC stalwarts. Zuma supporters came out in open rebellion against Mbeki, who appeared a tired old man. Of course, Mbeki is a seasoned veteran of the dirty world of politics and can in no way be counted out--even if he loses.

Stalinist discipline was always the rule of the ANC, in the public eye anyway. Not any more, it seems, and this is the battle today between the “old” ANC that the masses of South Africans believe has failed to deliver on its promises, and the new guard that promises something else. But what it promises remains to be seen.

The question South Africa is asking is what has Zuma promised to those supporting him and what impact will the delivery on these promises have on the country?

The result and South Africa’s future will be known today.

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From disorder to chaos to a rejection of the old guard

18 December, 2007: Pretoria, South Africa -- The second day of the ANC's 52nd national conference was one of chaos. If things were aggressive on day one, supporters of both President Thabo Mbeki and Jacob Zuma were more vociferous and militant than ever as the second day started.

However, after long delays the voting started and the challenger, Jacob Zuma won in a clean sweep with 2,329 against 1,505 votes. The Zuma victory, being called a "Zunami", was a clear rejection of Mbeki and his camp.

It remains to be seen if Zuma can unite the party, beat the corruption charges, which are due to be brought against him in 2008, and convince the international community that he is a leader worthy of trust.

During his long public campaign, Zuma became famous for singing his “Awuleth' umshini wami” (bring me my machine gun) song. He now has it, let’s see what he does with it.

Absolute rejection

It is obvious that Mbeki has been utterly rejected by members of the ANC, a party he has been involved with for most of his life. His critics accuse him of being too far removed from the people, too intellectual, too academic, too authoritarian. And there are also the constant rumors of corruption.

Mbeki played a critical role in the ANC’s struggle and in the negotiated settlement that saw Nelson Mandela becoming the first black president of South Africa, although his efforts were not always recognized. It seems a sad ending to his career. However, the ANC is bound to close ranks and recognize his efforts now that he is out.

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