Anti-apartheid activist elected SAfrica president
By CLARE NULLIS, Associated Press Writer1 hour, 16 minutes ago
An anti-apartheid activist was elected South Africa's president on Thursday,
assuming what many believe will be a brief caretaker role after Thabo Mbeki was
ousted in a power struggle within the ruling party.
South Africa's Parliament, which elects the president from among its members
and is dominated by the African National Congress, elected Kgalema Motlanthe
with 269 votes to 50 for the main opposition party's nominee.
Jacob Zuma, whose allies engineered Mbeki's ouster, watched from the public
gallery. Zuma was not eligible for the presidency because he is not a member of
parliament.
Motlanthe is expected to step aside after elections next year, when Zuma was
expected to become president.
When the vote results were announced, members of Parliament rose to cheer, and
Motlanthe gave a two-thumbs up salute to the gallery. He was sworn in shortly
afterward at the presidential office in the Parliament complex.
Later he briefly address the house in measured tones that reflected his
reputation as a cool, no-nonsense politician.
"I am deeply humbled and honored by the faith and confidence that the members
of this assembly have in me," he said. Motlanthe stood, rocking slightly, as he
recited the oath of office, pledging to "do justice to all."
The festive mood at Thursday's parliament session and swearing-in ceremony was
in marked contrast to the tumultuous week in South African politics. ANC
lawmakers sang anti-apartheid anthems and cheered when Motlanthe cast his vote.
Mbeki did not attend the National Assembly session and Cabinet ministers who
have said they were leaving with him also were absent. Among them were the
former deputy president, defense minister, intelligence and prisons ministers.
Other members of Mbeki's team have said they would be willing to serve in the
next administration.
On Saturday, the ANC ordered Mbeki to quit. Urged on by Zuma's leftist allies,
it acted after a judge threw out a corruption case against Zuma on technical
grounds and said Zuma may have been a victim of Mbeki's political machinations.
The ANC struggled to reassure South Africa and the world there was no reason to
fear instability in Africa's economic and diplomatic powerhouse.
But the situation is fragile, as was clear Tuesday when Mbeki's office
announced that 13 ministers and three deputies had resigned from the 28-member
Cabinet, among them the highly respected finance minister, Trevor Manuel.
South Africa's stocks and currency reeled. Only later did it become clear that
six of those who resigned, including Manuel, had already told the ANC they were
willing to serve in a new government. Manuel was expected to be named to a new
Cabinet later Thursday.
Zuma is seen as owing his rise to support from labor, the South African
Communist Party, and the ANC's increasingly impatient youth wing. But Zuma has
said repeatedly he does not plan a major departure from the free market
policies of Mbeki and Manuel. South Africa enjoyed unprecedented growth during
Mbeki's nine-year tenure, but critics say he did too little to ensure the new
wealth trickled down to the black majority.
For all the uncertainty of recent days, some South Africans say the smooth
transition was a mark of the maturity of their democracy 14 years after the end
of apartheid.
Muzi Sikhakhane, a Johannesburg attorney who was visiting Cape Town and among a
handful of people who gathered outside parliament Thursday, said South Africans
would "emerge from this stronger."
But he added: "I hope that the new leaders are not just fighting for positions,
that they are fighting in order to make our lives better."
South Africans have been anticipating a shift from Mbeki to Zuma at least since
December, when Zuma defeated the president in a party election for the ANC's
leadership.
Tony Leon, a leading member of the opposition Democratic Alliance, called the
ANC ouster of Mbeki in December "brutal, but democratic," and found reason for
hope in the events following it that culminated with Thursday's election.
"South Africa's current uncertainty could, over time, lead to far less
predictable and far more democratic political outcomes, not immediately, but
certainly over time," Leon said in a speech to university students in Cape Town
Thursday.
Steve Matomane, an 18-year-old student who also was in the crowd outside
Parliament, criticized the way Mbeki was ousted. But he said he did not expect
much change in the way his country would be governed.
"As South Africans we don't have to panic," he said. "I think Mr. Zuma will do
a wonderful job because he was selected by the ANC and they believe in his
ability, his capability."
About 40 people demonstrated in support of Mbeki outside Parliament Thursday.
Mzoxolo Sume, a 42-year-old security guard, stood with a sign saying he
believed Mbeki had been the victim of a "coup."
"I don't think this is in the interest in the nation," Sume said. "It's about
the infighting within the ANC."
___
Associated Press Writer Michelle Faul contributed to this report.
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By Courtesy of:
Michael BWambuga wa Balongo
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