South Africa: What Now?
The Once and Future President
The African National Congress has won an overwhelming majority. I was especially keen to note that prisoners were given the right to vote. The image of a prisoner voting at the Pretoria maximum Security jail was a complete surprise--in a good way.
South Africa is the powerhouse of Africa. It is the only African member of the G20.
Now that the ANC has won, the need to use that majority to govern wisely is ever more important. Jacob Zuma has a major challenge on his hands. In many ways, I regard his expectations as the same as Barack Obama's when he was elected. Despite his shortcomings, he did bring peace to his home province and also Burundi. So, he may surprise his country and the world yet. I was encouraged when he spoke out against Mugabe during the height of the struggle in Zimbabwe while Mbeki was pursuing his "silent diplomacy".
There was one interesting side story that was quite funny. The speculation on who was First Lady was also striking due to Jacob Zuma having two wives. I did a quick google search and 21,000 hits came back about the stories on his wives. There is indeed never a dull moment!!!
Mike Pouraryan
