South Africa will soon faceanother turning point in its political life. Analysts say the upcomingelections are the most significant since the country's first democratic polls in1994, which saw iconic freedom fighter Nelson Mandela become president, endingdecades of white minority rule ? or apartheid. And now, observers say, theemergence of a new political party to rival the ruling African NationalCongress, the ANC, will make these elections particularly intriguing.
Since1994, the ANC has established itself as South Africa's most powerful politicalparty, winning almost 70 percent of the vote in the previous election, in 2004.Some analysts doubt, though, whether the ANC is capable of a repeat performancein the April 22 polls. But they still expect the party to emerge victorious, witha significant majority.
It'sthe ruling party's leader, Jacob Zuma, who's expected to become South Africa's nextpresident, succeeding his party colleague, Kgalema Motlanthe.
Zuma, however, is tainted byallegations of corruption regarding his homeland's multibillion dollar armsdeal. Investigators say the likely president received bribes from a French armsmanufacturer. However, South Africa's National Prosecuting Authority hasdropped graft charges against Zuma, on the grounds that there'd been "politicalinterference" in the probe into the ANC leaders' activities.
Opposition parties havecondemned the decision, arguing that the government has itself interfered inthe country's judicial process to ensure that Zuma escapes criminalprosecution. They agree that even if there was indeed "political interference"to ensure that Zuma was investigated and prosecuted, this does not dilute the factthat there is substantial evidence that the prospective president receivedbribes worth millions of dollars. They say the only way for the ANC president toindeed prove his innocence is in a court of law.
The run-up to the April election has beencharacterized by intense rivalry ? and sometimes open hostility ? betweenparticularly the newly formed Congress of the People (COPE) and the ANC.
Last year, some senior ANC members broke away fromthe party to form COPE, largely in protest against Zuma's leadership of theANC.
The ANC says if Zuma is indeed elected president, asexpected, and he's later found guilty of criminality, he will withdraw fromoffice. But certain prominent ANC members, including Youth League chairmanJulius Malema, have said they're prepared to "kill" to ensure that Zuma remainspresident.
Some observers say "inflammatory" statements such asthese have created an atmosphere conducive to election violence, but ANCsecretary general Gwede Mantashe disagrees.
"Thepoint that (some) people are trying to make is that the ANC has becomereckless. The ANC has not become reckless?. Young people are militant andsometimes make statements that can be characterized as reckless. It is ourresponsibility to take them through development processes until they becomemature leaders who do not commit silly mistakes," Mantashe told VOA in awide-ranging interview at ANC headquarters in central Johannesburg.
Zumasupporters have also wore T-shirts emblazoned with "100% Zulu Boy" ? inreference to their favored candidate's ethnicity and in an apparent slight toXhosa members of the ANC. Opposition parties say acts such as this areextremely confrontational and have introduced a dangerous ethnic rivalry intomainstream South African politics.
Mantashemaintained that Zuma supporters only wore the T-shirts at the ANC's conferenceat Polokwane in December 2007, when party members had voted overwhelmingly forZuma as ANC president, ousting then-South African president Thabo Mbeki. Theevent was a precursor to the ANC's effective dismissal of Mbeki as South Africa'spresident last year, after a judge suggested that Mbeki had instigated criminalinvestigations against his rival, Zuma.
"(Ethnicrivalry) is not in the South African politics; it was within the context of thecontestation (of the ANC presidency) within the ANC," said Mantashe. "Sincethen, you will never find that T-shirt anywhere. Because Jacob Zuma has no'supporters'; he is the president of the African National Congress, not afaction."
In2005, Zuma's former financial advisor, Schabir Shaik, was sentenced to 15 yearsin prison for making corrupt payments to the ANC leader.
Oppositionparties and many South Africans have expressed outrage at Schaik's recentrelease from prison on the grounds that he's terminally ill. The ANC'sopponents say this is evidence that the ruling party considers itself and itsmembers to be above the law and that there is one law in South Africa for theANC and another law for the rest.