He's been labelled Black Jesus by some of his supporters because of his alleged "crucifixion" by his critics and because his expected ascension to South African president after elections next week will cap his stunning political resurrection.But the leader of the country's ruling African National Congress, Jacob Zuma, 67, is no saint.
Four years after he was fired as deputy president on suspicion of corruption and three years after his rape trial, the former guerrilla leader has bounced back on a tide of disillusionment at the government's failure, 15 years after then end of apartheid, to dent poverty.
Although the Zuma himself had a leading role in that government, his fall-out with ex-president Thabo Mbeki allowed him to reinvent himself as an underdog, garnering sympathy with the millions of South Africans still forced to live in tin shacks.
His lack of formal education and ever-ready renditions of the anti-apartheid anthem Umshini Wam (Bring Me My Machine Gun) contributed to the image of a man more in tune with the grassroots than the pipe-smoking Mbeki.
Zuma then easily beat Mbeki in the ANC leadership vote in December 2007, and the final hurdle to his march to power was set aside last week, when state prosecutors dropped their corruption charges against him, despite admitting they had a strong case.
Born in the remote village of Nkandla in KwaZulu-Natal on April 12, 1942, Jacob Gedleyihlekisa Zuma spent his early years herding cattle and goats after his father's death when he just five. His mother was a domestic worker.
Zuma became politically active in adolesence, joining the ANC at 17. For fighting apartheid he was sentenced to a 10-year jail term on Robben Island, where Nelson Mandela was also imprisoned.
To this day, he has warm relations with the anti-apartheid icon.
"My grandfather continues to say Zuma, ah, Zuma he is loved by the people," Mandela's grandson, Mandla Mandela told the German press agency dpa this week.
After his release, Zuma took the path of exile, first to Swaziland, then Mozambique, and finally Zambia, where he served as head of the party's intelligence department, notorious for its brutal treatment of suspected informers.
After South Africa's first democratic elections in 1994, Zuma served as minister for economic affairs in his native KwaZulu-Natal before becoming deputy president.
Having been denied the chance to go to school as a youth has made Zuma an evangelist for education, according to his granddaughter, Nobuhle Mhlongo. "I'm educated because of him," the 32-year-old researcher told dpa at Zuma's homestead in the remote village of Nkandla.
On other social issues, however, Zuma is staunchly conservative.
Like many rural Zulu men, he practices polygamy (he has two wives).
He has fathered at least 17 children.
Abroad, he is infamous for his comments during his rape trial.
Zuma was acquitted of the charges but admitted to having unprotected sex with his HIV-positive accuser - and to taking a shower afterwards to "ward off infection."
While remarks such as these have caused him embarrassment, his generally sympathetic demeanour have won him admirers in unlikely quarters.
"Zuma makes a lot of promises -still, I think he will try," Pierre Theron, chairman of the around 6,000-strong Afrikanerbond lobby group told dpa.
But in trying to accommodate everyone, he has been accused of dancing to everyone's tune. When meeting investors concerned about about a possible leftward policy lurch given Zuma's trade union backing, he tells them "nothing will change."
Back on the campaign trail, he talks about abolishing school fees and speeding up redistribution of farm land from whites to blacks.
Despite his popularity, the road ahead promises to be challenging.
Stung by falling global demand for its minerals, metals, gems and manufactured goods, South Africa is headed for minimal growth this year, or maybe even recession.
"Zuma has been sold by his acolytes as a man of the people," the Sunday Times, the country's top-selling weekly, said in an editorial. "Now, he must lead for the people."
Source : Sapa-dpa /th
Date : 16 Apr 2009 07:16
