Word: mbeki
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...Appointed deputy president in 1999 by Thabo Mbeki, who became South Africa's president after Nelson Mandela retired in 1998. Their relationship soured in 2005, when Mbeki sacked Zuma following a corruption scandal in which Schabir Shaik, a close Zuma associate, was found guilty of corruption and fraud for paying him some $180,000 in bribes...
Zuma, who portrays himself as an outsider, capitalized on that discontent to depose the previous leadership of the ANC and former President Thabo Mbeki. But not everyone is convinced. Archbishop Desmond Tutu, for one, says he will not vote ANC this time around, saying it has betrayed the hope of the Mandela years...
...outlook for South Africa that bleak? It depends on your time frame. Zuma's checkered career, the behavior of his supporters and the contrast to the iconic Mandela inevitably reflect poorly on him and his party. His victory in deposing Mbeki was first and foremost an internal factional victory and, outside that ANC constituency, his election will not be viewed so positively, either for South Africa or all Africa...
...creating the opportunity for Zuma to do better. A lessening in ANC support would ultimately be good for the health of South African democracy, which has lacked a strong opposition since the end of apartheid. Finally, ANC Presidents are a creature of their party rather than the electorate, as Mbeki's removal showed. Should Zuma underperform and disappoint his supporters, he might expect the same fate - and before his official term...
...year-old has largely stayed out of day-to-day politics since his retirement after one term in office in 1997, and ill health means he routinely declines all requests for interviews or comments these days. Mandela has occasionally - and often obliquely - chided his successors, particularly when the Mbeki-Zuma fight was at its height. But he has also made plain that his loyalty to the ANC remains unwavering, and during the latest campaign appeared twice with Zuma at election rallies, including a final mass rally at Ellis Park Stadium in Johannesburg last Sunday...