Word: mbeki
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...This weekend, ANC heavyweights hastened to calm fears of instability in the wake of Mbeki's resignation. Members of cabinet had last week threatened to resign if Mbeki went, but after meeting with the ANC executive leadership over the weekend, most indicated that they would stay on, including highly respected Finance Minister Trevor Manuel. "Everything goes on as normal," his spokeswoman Thoraya Pandy told reporters...
...there is no question that Mbeki's departure is the end of an era, leaving deep uncertainties about the country's future direction. Some analysts say that the market-friendly policies that have been Mbeki's hallmark are likely to continue. Zuma flew around the world earlier this year reassuring industrial leaders with interests in South Africa that he would follow in Mbeki's footsteps. But it was Zuma's support base - a coalition of leftists, populists, trade unionists and radicals - that drove the campaign to oust Mbeki, apparently against Zuma's wishes. That raises questions of just how firmly...
...Zuma is notorious for telling supporters of different political stripes what he thinks they want to hear, often contradicting himself in the process. He's keenly aware that alienating his own support base could prove dangerous. One of Mbeki's greatest perceived failings has been his lack of sympathy with the poor. The overall economy grew robustly under his presidency, but his effort to increase black ownership in the economy became controversial as a politically connected few amass great riches while millions of ordinary citizens remain mired in poverty. Poor South Africans vented their rage earlier this year by staging...
...same time, analysts said that Mbeki's departure increases the likelihood of a split within the ANC, as staunch Mbeki allies consider forming their own breakaway political party. Despite his apparent unpopularity, Mbeki had 40% of the party behind him last December...
...Mbeki's departure could not have come at a worse time for South Africa's northern neighbor, Zimbabwe, where the South African President painstakingly brokered a power-sharing compromise aimed at ending the country's prolonged political crisis. Signed a week ago by Zimbabwe's autocratic president, Robert Mugabe, and his bitter enemy, opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai, the deal has been hanging by a thread. If it holds, the Zimbabwe deal could be Mbeki's most enduring legacy, despite the criticism he has drawn for a policy of "silent diplomacy" that was seen by many to appease Mugabe...