Although tensions within South Africa's African National Congress (ANC) have been simmering for quite some time, the resignation of South African President Thabo Mbeki came as a surprise to just about everyone. The president resigned after getting hit with charges that he had interfered with the justice system. Graft charges against Mbeki's rival, Jacob Zuma, were thrown out by a South African judge and strong intimations were made that Mbeki had brought pressure to make sure Zuma was prosecuted. The ANC “recalled” Mbeki after that announcement and hours later, he resigned. ANC Secretary-General Gwede Mantashe repeatedly said during the announcement the decision to recall Mbeki, who lost the ANC leadership to Zuma in December, was made by consensus and was designed to ensure political stability. Many, however, have voiced doubts about that explanation. Appearances are that the recall was forced by militant extremists with a strong left-leaning tendency, which could indicate great difficulties for the future. With South Africa's economy already slowing down as part of the overall global crisis, the last thing the country needs is a leftist government, which would most certainly give investors pause when considering putting money there. The “recall” could also prompt a split in the party, which has ruled the country in relative peace since the end of apartheid. That could translate into a loss of unity that has kept the country together and at the most extreme, some say, it could result in a civil war. At the least, a wholesale departure of party members would leave the ANC more in the hands of radicals. Zuma, it seems, would handily win the presidency in the next election but his agenda is ill-informed beyond platitudes that he would bring an end to poverty, a Sisyphean task at which no African country has succeeded. Although there has been plenty to criticize Mbeki about, especially in terms of his original complacence in the face of Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe's lawless electoral manipulation, it is difficult to conceive of Zuma as an improvement. If there is one positive aspect to the change in president, it is that it has been affected in peace and within the parameters of the law. That, at least, bodes well for the future. __
