China — China View (April 18): South Africa's African
National Congress (A.N.C.) has spent no less than $20 million on its
2009 election campaign, the party said on Saturday. A.N.C. national
executive council member, Nomvula Mokonyane, said most of the money
used in the campaign had been raised by the party through selling
paraphernalia for example. She was speaking at a briefing ahead of the
party's final election rally to be held on Sunday at Coca Cola Park and
the Johannesburg Stadium. The rally would "set a precedent" for
large-scale events with 400,000 people in total expected to view the
event at the two stadiums and via a live satellite link at stadiums in
the other eight provinces.
France — Euronews (April 24): Jacob Zuma must wait a
little longer for the official declaration, but his supporters are
already celebrating. The final votes are being counted in South
Africa’s election, but the African National Congress is firmly on
course for a landslide victory, with Zuma becoming the new President.
23 million people registered to vote, and around two-thirds of them
backed Zuma, possibly giving the A.N.C. enough of a majority in
parliament to change the constitution if it wants. The prospect worries
some, but the party insists it will not abuse its dominant position.
Iran — PressTV (April 24): With over half of the
ballots counted, the African National Congress led by Jacob Zuma has
declared victory owing to a 67 lead in the polls that drew a record 77
percent of the 23 million eligible electorate to vote Zuma in as the
fourth South African president since the collapse of the white-dominant
authoritarian apartheid in 1994. ... The 67-year-old leader of Zulu
origin who took over the A.N.C. leadership from former President Thabo
Mbeki in 2007 is expected to replace the interim President Kgalema
Petrus Motlanthe.
Kenya — Daily Nation (April 22):
With the expectations of many ordinary South Africans soaring, after
what they claim to have been a decade of alienation by the Mbeki
administration, the next government will be hard-pressed to guard
against consigning this critical constituency to the confines of
disillusionment. A master of real politic, Zuma, while addressing
international journalists in Johannesburg on the eve of the election,
seemed to be taking cognizance that some things are easier promised
than done. He told his compatriots not to expect miracles... there will
certainly be some gaps in service delivery in Africa's largest economy,
especially courtesy of the global economic meltdown.
Mauritius — AllAfrica (April 20): It is not going to
be up to Zuma himself to fix the education system or face the global
economic crisis. But it will be his job to encourage people to see the
sense (or the balance, if you like) in how those problems will be
fixed, or at least addressed. It is his job to ensure that citizens
understand why government is doing what it is doing, which is partly
the reason why good communicators often make good leaders. But there is
another reason why this trio of issues is so important now; because
they are the three areas where S.A. has gone backwards most
propitiously.
Qatar — Al Jazeera (April 21): The majority of Zuma's
bad press has followed his acquittal on rape charges in 2006, the
ousting of his rival Thabo Mbeki as president last year and the
dropping of corruption charges against him in April 2009. However, Zuma
continues to fight back, for instance, by suing South Africa's Sunday Times
for $780,000 for publishing a cartoon of him preparing to rape a
figurative Lady Justice. The media executive quoted earlier, says
politicians' attempts to protect their reputations have now gone too
far, with the ANC trying to use legislation to control the media.
Scotland — The Scotsman (April 24): South Africa's
long-dominant governing party was leaving its opponents in national
elections far behind today, and the only matter to be decided was the
margin of victory. If Jacob Zuma's African National Congress fails to
achieve the almost 70 per cent that it took in 2004, it will be seen as
a message from voters that they want to see some limits on the party. A
two-thirds majority allows the A.N.C. to enact major laws unchallenged
United Kingdom — BBC News (April 24): Mr. Zuma, a
populist who spent 10 years in prison during the apartheid era for
A.N.C. membership, faces challenges including a struggling economy and
soaring violent crime. Charges of corruption against the 67-year old
were dropped just two weeks before the poll after state prosecutors
said there had been political interference in the case. ... Mr. Zuma is
also a skilled conciliator, credited with ending the political violence
in KwaZulu-Natal and helping to bring peace to Burundi.
United Kingdom — The Guardian (April 20): In a story
that rivals anything the American dream has to offer, the Zulu herd boy
from one of the country's poorest provinces is about to become the most
powerful man in Africa. He has done it after serving his time in the
liberation struggle and on Robben island. He has proved a resilient
political fighter who, floored by fraud and corruption claims and a
charge of rape, kept picking himself up off the canvas to finally
outmaneuver his rivals. Unlike the scholarly and aloof Thabo Mbeki, who
habitually quoted Shakespeare or phrases in Latin, Zuma can dance. He
is charming and charismatic and comfortable in his own skin.
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