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Zuma to face corruption charges

The newly elected leader of South Africa's ruling party has been ordered to stand trial on corruption and other charges next year, possibly derailing his attempts to become the country's president.

Jacob Zuma will be tried in the High Court in August on charges of racketeering, money laundering, corruption and fraud, his lawyer, Michael Hulley said on Friday.

Zuma, 65, defeated South African President Thabo Mbeki last week in a bitterly contested election for the leadership of the African National Congress (ANC). The battle left deep rifts in the 85-year-old party, which former president Nelson Mandela led to victory over the racist apartheid state.

The popular former guerrilla fighter was handing out presents to children Friday at an annual Christmas party in his home village in KwaZulu-Natal. He would not answer reporters questions on the matter.

Zuma, who was acquitted of rape last year, has denied any corruption and has said prosecutors are trying to smear him for political reasons.

In a harshly worded statement e-mailed to the Associated Press, Hulley accused prosecutors of acting "with improper motive calculated to discredit" Zuma.

"The timing is calculated to quickly redress the popular support and call to leadership of the ANC which Mr Zuma's election so obviously demonstrates,'' he said.

Tlali Tlali, a spokesman for the National Prosecuting Authority, would not comment on Friday.

Mbeki fired Zuma as the country's deputy president in 2005 after Zuma's financial adviser was convicted of trying to elicit bribes.

Prosecutors contend Zuma was aware of efforts to secure payments for him from French arms company Thint Holdings in exchange for stopping investigations into a multibillion-dollar arms deal with the government.

Charges against Zuma were thrown out last year on a technicality. But last week the country's top prosecutor said he had enough evidence to go back to court -- an announcement that overshadowed Zuma's victory over Mbeki.

Zuma responded defiantly at press conference after his election as ANC president.

"Take me to court," he said.

The possibility Zuma would be charged hovered over the election at last week's ANC congress and the pending case will mean turmoil for the party.

The ANC party leader has traditionally been the party's presidential candidate. The party's overwhelming backing has ensured victories for Mandela in 1994, then Mbeki in 1999 and 2004.

The Constitution requires that Mbeki stand down in 2009. But had he won a third term as the party leader, he would have been in a position to influence the choice of a successor.

Zuma's lawyer did not provide details of the charges, but the allegations of racketeering and money laundering appear to have been added following continued investigations by prosecutors.

The state has won a number of legal victories this year, with South Africa's court of appeal ruling that the seizure by police of incriminating documents from Zuma's home and office was legal.

The election of Zuma, a charismatic leader who enjoys wide support among trade unions and leftist groups, has left South Africans -- and the rest of the world -- watching nervously.

Some are concerned Zuma could set Africa's largest economy on a dangerously populist course.

But he and Mbeki have gone to great lengths to assure the public that there will be little change in the government's policies and that the relationship between the former and current ANC leaders will be a smooth one.
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