SOUTH AFRICA: Tension high ahead of ANC Conference in northern province of Limpopo

Record ID: 453865

  • Title: SOUTH AFRICA: Tension high ahead of ANC Conference in northern province of Limpopo
  • Date: 16th December 2007
  • Summary: JACOB ZUMA SUPPORTERS SINGING VARIOUS OF THABO MBEKI SUPPORTERS SINGING
  • Embargoed: 31st December 2007 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: South Africa
  • Country: South Africa
  • Topics: Domestic Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA7VV9PJV8MU6BN9ZGR4BVMOBP8
  • Story Text: Thousands of activists gather in northern province of Limpopo on the eve of the African National Congress (ANC) conference. The five-day conference will decide whether President Thabo Mbeki continues to lead the ruling party.
    Thousands of African National Congress activists gathered on Saturday (December 15) amid tight security on the eve of a congress that will decide whether President Thabo Mbeki continues to head the ruling party. Supporters of Mbeki, who is seeking a third term as ANC president, and those backing his challenger, ANC Deputy President Jacob Zuma, sang and chanted as they lined up to register for the five-day conference.
    Helicopters buzzed overhead and police set up check points as the delegates, some 4,000 of whom will cast ballots for the ANC presidency and other top leadership positions, arrived in Polokwane, about 350 km north of Johannesburg. Pro-Zuma delegates, who have been buoyed in recent weeks by indications that the Zulu politician is far ahead the incumbent in delegate support, marched inside the registration hall in a boisterous demonstration. A group of his supporters from KwaZulu-Natal province, the heartland of the Zulu nation and the cornerstone of Zuma's presidential candidacy, sang anti-apartheid struggle songs and chanted "Zuma, my president."
    Tensions rose when the registration process slowed down, with many delegates unable to get their credentials.
    The 65-year-old Zuma looks set to win the ANC leadership battle after taking a strong lead in branch nominations. A victory would virtually assure him the South African presidency in the 2009 election because of the party's dominance.
    Mbeki's camp, however, has launched a furious last-minute campaign to persuade Zuma backers to cross over and give Mbeki another five years at the helm of the party that has ruled South Africa largely unopposed since 1994. Smuts Ngonyama, spokesman for the ANC said they would stand united at the conference,
    "We have made mistakes before, leading to Limpopo, but now we are in Limpopo, we have listened to you, we've heard you, we will emerge here fully, fully united and ensuring that the resolutions that happen here will impact on you positively," he said.
    The Mbeki camp has argued that Zuma, who was acquitted last year of raping an HIV-positive woman and is currently the target of a corruption investigation, is not suited to lead either the ANC or Africa's largest economy. They have stoked fears that trade unions and communists -- the left has embraced Zuma as the best candidate to reverse what they see as Mbeki's pro-business slant -- could have undue influence in a Zuma government.
    Zuma has been at pains to reassure foreign investors and South Africans that there would be no major changes if he is elected.
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