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S African ruling party picks Zuma

African National Congress President Jacob Zuma, left, celebrates as he weds his 33 year-old wife Nompumelelo Ntuli, unseen, during their Zulu traditional wedding in Nkandla, 400km north of Durban, South Africa, on Saturday. PHOTO: AP

The ruling African National Congress said on Tuesday that party president Jacob Zuma would be its candidate for national elections next year despite his pending trial on charges of corruption, money laundering, fraud and racketeering.

The decision following a meeting of the party's decision-making national executive committee sets the scene for a showdown between the governing party and prosecutors and risks political uncertainty in Africa's economic powerhouse.

Zuma's allies claim he is the victim of a political vendetta. The ANC executive committee has agreed to look into how to support Zuma and draw up a detailed report on the allegedly corrupt arms deal at the heart of the case against Zuma, which could shift attention from Zuma to other top leaders accused of corruption.

On Tuesday, ANC treasurer Mathews Phosa accused prosecutors of "Hollywood-style operations," Zuma, a 65-year-old former guerrilla leader is due to go on trial in August. Corruption charges against him were dropped on a technicality in 2006, but prosecutors now say they have additional evidence implicating Zuma.

Zuma allegedly accepted hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes from the French company Thint to stop investigations into multibillion-dollar arms deal contracts with the government. The contracts were suspected of being secured through bribes, and Thint presumably hoped Zuma would use his influence within the government and the ANC to stop legal probes.

President Thabo Mbeki fired Zuma as the country's deputy president in 2005, after Zuma's financial adviser was convicted of trying to elicit bribes from Thint. Prosecutors contend Zuma was aware of efforts to secure the bribes on his behalf.

The meeting of the 86-member national executive committee on Monday was the first since Zuma was elected in December. Mbeki did not attend the meeting -- although sent his apologies -- in what was widely interpreted as a snub to the executive, which is now controlled by Zuma allies.

Mbeki will stand down as national president next year, prevented by the Constitution from seeking a third term. He had challenged Zuma for the ANC presidency, apparently hoping that by remaining ANC president he would be able to have influence over his successor as national president. Given the huge majority enjoyed by the ANC, it is virtually certain that Zuma will become South African president next year if he stands.
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