KWANXAMALALA, South Africa — When jailed Black leaders plotted the downfall of white supremacists, Jacob Zuma would regale them with tales of how British soldiers oppressed the mighty Zulu kingdom — turning would-be warriors into domestic serv
KWANXAMALALA, South Africa — When jailed Black leaders plotted the downfall of white supremacists, Jacob Zuma would regale them with tales of how British soldiers oppressed the mighty Zulu kingdom — turning would-be warriors into domestic servants. Now the one-time goat herder is poised to lead Africa’s mightiest economic power — a victor of the fight against white rule, an unabashed polygamist, and survivor of sex and corruption scandals that more than once threatened to derail his political career. South African voters are projected to give an overwhelming majority Wednesday to the governing African National Congress party and hand the presidency to Zuma. The 67-year-old head of the former liberation movement’s feared intelligence unit is beloved by the poor, who feel his own deprived upbringing gives him insight into their painful poverty. But Zuma is hated by those who see his populism as dangerous for the nation that holds the continent’s greatest hope for democracy. On policy, Zuma says decisions are made by the collective leadership, indicating that there won’t be major changes on issues such as neighboring Zimbabwe. During the campaign, there were hints Zuma would take a tougher line on authoritarian Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe. But now that predecessor Thabo Mbeki has persuaded Mugabe to share power with the opposition, the debate has shifted to trying to persuade Western donors to support the coalition. Successive governments, despite the ANC’s leftist roots, have broadly abided by free-market policies. Relations with the U.S. have been prickly at times, notably over the Iraq war. But whichever government follows is likely to remain friendly, especially to President Barack Obama whose election electrified South Africans. A great showman, Zuma has a strong deep voice and seldom misses the chance to break into song, often the anti-apartheid "Umshini Wami," which means "Bring Me My Machine Gun." A microphone in his hand, he breaks into a wide tooth-gapped smile and the crowd goes wild as if at a rock concert. "Zuma as president will be much more personable," said Adam Habib, a political analyst at the University of Johannesburg. "He is going to do a jig on the stage far more; he will hug grannies; he will shake people’s hands; he will kiss babies in a much more greater way than Mbeki." "In all of those ways, I think he is much closer to (Nelson) Mandela. Does he generate the same sense of integrity? No, he doesn’t," he said. A frail Mandela, who turned 90 last year, twice has turned out for Zuma campaign rallies. On Sunday, tens of thousands of Zuma supporters were near hysterical with joy when Mandela and Zuma paraded around a stadium in a golf cart. Critics, though, say Zuma encourages a personality cult and is raising expectations impossible to fulfill amid the global recession among supporters who look to him for salvation. "Zuma is Jesus!" declared a poster at Sunday’s final campaign rally. Zuma and his supporters have alluded to a divine destiny. "God expects us to rule this country … That is why we will rule until Jesus comes back," Zuma told The Cape Times in an interview after he became president of the ANC. Zuma’s anticipated inauguration as president May 9 will be a remarkable milestone for the man who once herded livestock in the rural Zulu heartland, home to sugar cane plantations, eucalyptus forests and mountains shrouded in mist. Zuma maintains an isolated homestead here on a hillside. His father, also a polygamist, was a policeman who died when he was a boy. His mother worked as a maid in the coastal city of Durban. Zuma was denied a formal education, and by 15, he was doing odd jobs to help support his family. He joined the ANC in 1959, and by 21, he was arrested while trying to leave the country illegally. Zuma was jailed for 10 years on Robben Island, alongside Mandela and other heroes of the anti-apartheid struggle. It was there that he continued with his schooling and began making a name for himself among ANC prisoners. He left South Africa in 1975 for 15 years of exile spent in neighboring Swaziland, Mozambique and Zambia where he was appointed chief of the ANC’s intelligence department. Following the lifting of the ANC ban in 1990, Zuma was one of the first leaders to return to South Africa. Zuma was credited with ending violence pitting ANC members against the main Zulu party in the troubled province of KwaZulu-Natal before the country’s historic first multiracial vote in 1994. He was appointed deputy president in 1999 by Mbeki who fired him in 2005, when Zuma was implicated in the corruption trial of a close friend and financial adviser. Mbeki later lost a bitter power struggle with Zuma for the party leadership and was eventually forced last year to yield the presidency to an interim successor, Kgalema Motlanthe, until this year’s election. Prosecutors lifted the last obstacle in Zuma’s path earlier this month when they announced that they were dropping corruption charges against him, saying the case had been manipulated for political reasons and the criminal charges would never be revived. Some South Africans and the international community also fear the influence of the allies who propelled Zuma to power — leftist trade unions and the South African Communist Party to which Zuma belonged for most of his life. Still, Habib predicts there is little to fear from a Zuma presidency and believes he will be "more responsive" to the most pressing problems facing South Africa — crime, AIDS and corruption. Zuma is a Zulu traditionalist who proudly took a second wife last year. It was Zuma’s fourth marriage: He is divorced from Foreign Minister Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma, and another of his wives committed suicide more than eight years ago. He is said to have more than 10 children. Questions about Zuma’s moral choices were raised after the man who was head of the country’s AIDS program acknowledged having unprotected sex with the HIV-positive daughter of a family friend and said he took a shower to protect himself from AIDS. Zuma was acquitted of raping the woman, younger than some of his own children. But he also failed to chastise supporters who threatened the woman’s life, causing her to flee into exile. The case embarrassed Archbishop Desmond Tutu, the Nobel Peace laureate who appealed to Zuma two years ago to abandon his political ambitions. Tutu asked: "What sort of example would he be setting?" Zulus believe he sets a proud one — reveling in his rich heritage, as at home in traditional leopard skins as he is in a pinstripe suit, a more traditional African leader than any on the continent. Associated Press writers Celean Jacobson and Donna Bryson in Johannesburg contributed to this report. ______ Copyright 2009 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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