Word: zuma
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...Mbeki's ouster is certainly a victory for the more hardline element among Zuma's supporters, who had been calling for the President's head ever since a judge last Friday threw out corruption charges against Zuma on procedural grounds. Most damaging to Mbeki were Judge Chris Nicholson's remarks that he found Zuma's complaints of political interference in his case to be plausible. Nicholson made it clear that his judgment in no way exonerates Zuma, but he also accused Mbeki and members of his cabinet of having improperly intervened to ensure that Zuma was prosecuted. "It's quite...
...Julius Malema, the vociferous new president of the ANC Youth League, railed against Mbeki, calling him a "dictator," and predicting that he would be removed over the weekend. But for all the venom of his supporters, Zuma himself was not among those calling for Mbeki's head. Instead, he had called for Mbeki to serve out the remainder of his term, in order to ensure a smooth political transition. Zuma told his party that it would be a waste of energy to "beat a dead snake," and instead appealed to them to focus on healing internal divisions. Malema's response...
...continent - where he has mediated conflicts in the Ivory Coast, the Democratic Republic of Congo and, most recently, Zimbabwe - has instead faced a string of humiliating defeats, and leaves office much diminished. The ANC, too, is likely to be weakened by its decision, which also seemed to suggest that Zuma is not necessarily in control of the coalition of forces within the party that brought him to power...
...autocratic management style and ruthlessness in dealing with his opponents - he deftly outmaneuvered a more popular rival, Cyril Ramaphosa, in order to assume the presidency after Nelson Mandela left office in 1999 - has angered many. Nevertheless, the ANC's decision raises a deeper question of just how able Zuma is to control the militants among his supporters, who some fear are now in a position to dictate party policy...
...Saturday's decision also diminishes chances that the controversial 1990s arms deal over which Zuma has faced charges, will ever be properly investigated - although its corrosive legacy will live on. In his ruling last week, Judge Nicholson called for a commission of inquiry "to rid our land of this cancer that is devouring the body politic and the reputation for integrity built up so assiduously after the fall of apartheid." Instead, it appears that Zuma will assume the presidency before he ever has his day in court...