Corruption charges dropped against ANC leader Zuma

The man set to be South Africa’s next president emerged victorious today from a corruption case that dogged him for eight years.

Jacob Zuma, the 66-year-old former guerrilla chief who is leader of the governing African National Congress (ANC), cleared a legal hurdle to his presidential ambitions when a judge dismissed fraud, money laundering and corruption charges.

“It is a victory for democracy,” a smiling Mr Zuma declared to thousands of supporters singing and dancing in a display of his intense popular support that has been dubbed the “Zsunami.”

While he is a hero among the impoverished masses, Mr Zuma is struggling to connect with nervous business leaders and foreign investors, who worry whether he harbours radical economic ideas.

But even some business leaders wanted the charges against Mr Zuma dropped in the interests of political stability for Africa’s most powerful economy.

Mr Zuma has sought to reassure the business community that he will not lead South Africa down the ruinous path that wrecked the thriving farm-based economy of Zimbabwe.

The court ruling was just the latest turn in what has been a remarkable roller-coaster ride for Mr Zuma.

He was fired as deputy president in 2005, acquitted of rape in 2006, elected head of the ruling ANC last year and now stands within grasp of the presidency.

Mr Zuma told the crowd he was victim of a political plot by his rival, President Thabo Mbeki. But Mr Zuma peppered his speech with his typical humour and finished off with an anti-apartheid song that has become his trademark - “Bring Me My Machine Gun.”

On a makeshift stage backed with posters declaring “Hands Off Jacob Zuma,” he savoured every moment, singing with gusto and gyrating his hips.

Large numbers of women, from schoolgirls to grandmothers, were in the crowd. His popularity among women is high despite the 2006 trial for allegedly raping a family friend half his age. He was acquitted, but conceded he had unprotected sex with the HIV-infected woman and took a shower afterward in the belief that would reduce the risk.

Feminists though remain wary, not least because he is a self-proclaimed polygamist.

Mr Zuma is expected to become South Africa’s president after elections in April or May. Mr Mbeki has held the office 10 years and is barred from a third term.

The huge majority enjoyed by the ANC means Mr Zuma is almost certain to be elected. There are no rival ANC candidates; leaders of smaller opposition parties have virtually no chance.

Mr Mbeki steered South Africa through post-apartheid uncertainties to sustained economic growth, but failed to strike a chord with his stiff aloofness and his Shakespeare-packed prose.

Mr Zuma is different. Even his critics agree he has charisma and appears more responsive to the needs of ordinary people.

Mr Zuma plays on his personal history – his mother was a maid and he never had formal schooling. Like other anti-apartheid activists, he was imprisoned and then went into exile to become a leader of the banned ANC’s military wing.

He rose through the ANC ranks after it came to power in 1994 and grew accustomed to a lavish lifestyle.

The National Prosecuting Authority said that between 1995 and 2002 Mr Zuma received 238 payments from a friend and business adviser, Shabir Shaik, in return for political favours.

In 2005, Shaik was sentenced to 15 years in jail for fraud and corruption for securing bribes of 61,000 US dollars a year for Zuma to shield a French arms company from corruption investigations. Prosecutors said there was enough evidence to convict Mr Zuma, but they never did.

Mr Zuma was initially charged in 2005, but the case was dismissed in 2006. He was charged again last December days after ousting Mr Mbeki as ANC president.

In his judgment, Pietermaritzburg High Court Judge Chris Nicholson said it was unfair for Mr Mbeki to remove Mr Zuma as national deputy president without Mr Zuma having a chance to defend himself in court.

He said the timing of the 2007 charges was most likely politically motivated.

The entire episode appears to have formed part of “some great political contest or game,” Judge Nicholson said. “There is a ring of the works of Kafka in this.”

The judge cautioned, however, that his ruling did not touch on guilt or innocence, and opposition parties were quick to urge prosecutors to file new charges.

The National Prosecuting Authority may prefer to drop the case. Parliament is pushing through legislation to scrap the authority’s elite investigating unit in response to ANC anger over the perceived persecution of Mr Zuma.