Humiliation for Mbeki
2007-12-18 22:25
Polokwane - President Thabo Mbeki was humiliatingly toppled on Tuesday from the helm of the ANC by arch rival Jacob Zuma, the man he sacked as deputy head of state two years ago.
After a bitter election contest which saw some of Mbeki's chief lieutenants booed and heckled at an ongoing conference, Zuma was formally declared the winner by a margin of 824 votes.
"The number of votes received by Comrade Thabo Mbeki was 1 505. The number of votes received by Comrade Jacob Zuma is 2 329," Dren Nupen, head of the party's elections commission announced.
Mbeki then hugged Zuma and delegates erupted into chants of "ANC, ANC".
Victory caps a remarkable political comeback for the scandal-plagued Zuma, who still faces the prospect of being charged with corruption.
The 65-year-old was sacked by Mbeki as deputy head of state in 2005 when his financial advisor was jailed for fraud and later stood trial for raping a family friend less than half his age.
Although he was acquitted, he was widely ridiculed for testifying he had showered after sex with his HIV-positive accuser in order to prevent infection.
Mbeki aloof, authoritarian
Given the ANC's large majority in parliament, Zuma would normally almost be guaranteed the job of state president come elections in 2009 after his victory in the internal contest.
But he faces being charged with corruption after losing a recent court bid to have a series of search warrants declared illegal.
While Mbeki has two years left as state president, his authority has been badly undermined by the defeat, with some commentators predicting he could face efforts by Zuma's camp to force him out of office early.
Although Mbeki, also 65, can point to an uninterrupted period of growth, unemployment is unofficially estimated to be around 40%.
Many analysts believe however that Mbeki's defeat was more as a result of his aloof and authoritarian style which had alienated many in his party rather than a firm vote of confidence in Zuma.
"Mbeki lost for a lot of reasons (but) the main reason is the question of leadership style," said Steven Friedman of the Pretoria-based Institute for Democracy in South Africa.
"He irritated a lot of people. Some of that you have to do when you are in power. But much of it could have been avoided."
Kgalema Motlanthe, the outgoing secretary-general who will now serve as Zuma's deputy, denied there were disagreements over policies which he said were reached by consensus at a five-yearly conference which was last held in June.
"We have communists in our ranks, we have hard-nosed capitalists in our ranks. To keep them together... through engagement and persuasion we agree on a consensus position," he told reporters shortly before the result was announced.