South African President elect accused of Corruption

South Africa's political party, the African National Congress (ANC), just elected a leader, Jacob G. Zuma, who will be next in line for President, and who is under investigation for corruption charges. He claims the charges are being filed by the incumbent African President, Thabo Mbeki, in order to make Zuma ineligible for Presidency.

The article lists some of the charges, but not many details, other than bribery is involved, and Zuma has previously been tried in courts for accepting bribes. Below the original article is another one published a day later by the Los Angeles Times.

Here, however, we see that South Africa does not have a truly independent anti-corruption investigation agency. The article says the existing group reports to the incumbent President Mbeki, and they are called the Scorpions.

Thus, the accusations could indeed be politically based, since the Scorpions are NOT independent of the country leadership. Apparently, their lack of independence is known, because the ANC also voted to have the Scorpions disbanded. Or, it could be that the ANC members don't care about corruption charges, and want them quashed so their newly elected leader can take office.

Thus, a lesson learned is that a country's anti-corruption agency and their staff must be independent of the leadership. It was that way in Iraq with CPI (Commission of Public Integrity) until the independent Commissioner of CPI was replaced in a coup by the Maliki government who placed another person in charge without following existing laws or using due process.

Quote from the article below about the new President Elect:

"Mr. Zuma was fired as South Africa’s deputy president in 2005 after investigators tied him to a bribery scandal involving a multibillion-dollar military contract for a French manufacturer. Mr. Zuma fended off a related corruption charge on procedural grounds earlier this year, but the accusations against him have never really gone away."

vj

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from NyTimes.com at:
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/21/world/africa/21safrica.html?_r=1&oref=slogin
Dec. 21, 2007

Prosecutor Says Zuma Charges Near

By MICHAEL WINES and GRAHAM BOWLEY
Published: December 21, 2007

JOHANNESBURG — South Africa’s chief prosecutor indicated Thursday that his agency would soon bring criminal corruption charges against the Zulu politician Jacob G. Zuma, two days after Mr. Zuma’s election as leader of the African National Congress put him in line to be the nation’s next president.

The acting head of the National Prosecuting Authority, Mokotedi Mpshe, said in a radio interview that a lengthy investigation of Mr. Zuma was complete and that “the evidence we have now points to a case that can be taken to court.”

Asked whether that meant that prosecution of Mr. Zuma was imminent, Mr. Mpshe replied, “I should say so.”

Mr. Mpshe’s remarks, broadcast on the Johannesburg station Talk Radio 702, signaled the advent of what is likely to be a long stretch of political turmoil until allegations of corruption against Mr. Zuma are resolved.

A criminal conviction would end Mr. Zuma’s political career, for South Africa’s constitution bars felons from becoming president of the country. Mr. Zuma has repeatedly suggested through his lawyer that the corruption inquiry is an attempt by enemies to destroy him politically, a charge many say is directed at South Africa’s president, Thabo Mbeki.

Mr. Zuma’s lawyer, Michael Hulley, repeated that on Thursday, telling Reuters: “I can only speculate that the actions of the national director are fueling and lending credence to the idea that state resources are being used against my client.”

Mr. Zuma soundly defeated Mr. Mbeki this week in the race for the leadership of the A.N.C. As president, Mr. Mbeki oversees the national agency that both investigated the corruption allegations against Mr. Zuma and is now preparing to bring charges. The A.N.C. adopted a policy statement this week urging that that agency’s investigative unit, nicknamed the Scorpions, be disbanded.

Both Mr. Mbeki and Mr. Zuma have vigorously denied any political enmity, and they took pains after this week’s leadership vote to make a show of unity and friendship, but political analysts generally agree that their rivalry runs deep.

Adam Habib, a leading analyst who heads a governance project at the Human Sciences Research Council, a research organization here, said it was unlikely that Mr. Mbeki was behind Mr. Mpshe’s announcement of an impending prosecution of Mr. Zuma.

Rather, he said, Mr. Mpshe probably intended to remove any doubt that Mr. Zuma’s new status as a political leader would deter his prosecution, which Mr. Habib said could begin early next year.

“They want to signal that it’s going to happen,” he said, “and I think they’ve made a strategic decision that they’re going to do so in a kind of off-the-cuff remark, to prepare the groundwork.”

The A.N.C.’s secretary-general, Kgalema Motlanthe, indicated at the A.N.C.’s national conference in Polokwane this week that Mr. Zuma would likely remain the party’s president throughout any criminal proceedings, saying it would be “very hard to act against somebody on the basis of allegations.”

Mr. Zuma was fired as South Africa’s deputy president in 2005 after investigators tied him to a bribery scandal involving a multibillion-dollar military contract for a French manufacturer. Mr. Zuma fended off a related corruption charge on procedural grounds earlier this year, but the accusations against him have never really gone away.

Prosecutors have long said that they were preparing to file new charges. But the comments Thursday come at a particularly sensitive time, two days after he ousted Mr. Mbeki as the party’s leader, and on the day when he planned a closing victory speech at the A.N.C. national conference.

Ahead of the A.N.C. election last week, South African newspapers quoted the prosecutors as saying that they had gathered enough new evidence on alleged bribes paid to Mr. Zuma to bring charges.

On Tuesday, after three days of politicking at the national conference , the A.N.C.’s 3,900 delegates voted to oust Mr. Mbeki as leader of the party and give the job to Mr. Zuma, whose popularity has surged despite facing the corruption charges and other rape charges. With his election, Mr. Zuma became the favorite to succeed Mr. Mbeki as president when Mr. Mbeki’s second term ends in early 2009.

Michael Wines reported from Johannesburg and Graham Bowley from New York.

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from Los Angeles Times on Thurs., Dec. 20, 2007
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-soafrica21dec21,1,692432.story?coll=la-headlines-world&ctrack=1&cset=true

S. Africa's Zuma may be prosecuted

The new leader of the nation's ruling party and presidential hopeful could face corruption charges.
By Robyn Dixon, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
December 21, 2007

POLOKWANE, SOUTH AFRICA -- A top prosecutor said Thursday that South Africa's controversial new president-in-waiting, Jacob Zuma, could be charged with corruption within weeks, an action that could threaten Zuma's bid to take over the country's leadership.

The acting director of the National Prosecuting Authority, Mokotedi Mpshe, said there was enough evidence to prosecute him on corruption charges, stealing Zuma's thunder just before his first public speech as newly elected leader of the African National Congress, the country's ruling party. A conviction would dash his presidential ambitions.

Despite the legal cloud, Zuma took to the stage in the final hours of the ANC's national conference, where he was voted in as party leader this week, swaying with both arms raised and singing a victorious rendition of his trademark song, "Bring Me My Machine Gun."

In a news conference later, Zuma repeatedly sidestepped questions about the possibility of criminal charges being filed.

"I am not charged. There is no charge. Why should I discuss speculation about something that doesn't even exist? I would not be allaying fears, I would be raising fears."

He said there was no strategy in the ANC to deal with the possibility that he could be charged and face a lengthy court case.

If Zuma were convicted, his ally and the new ANC deputy leader, Kgalema Motlanthe, would step up as heir apparent to the country's president, Thabo Mbeki, whose term ends in 2009.

Mbeki, formerly a close ally, sacked Zuma as the country's vice president in 2005 after Zuma's former financial advisor, Schabir Shaik, was convicted of graft in a multibillion-dollar arms deal. Shaik was convicted of soliciting a $72,500-a-year bribe on Zuma's behalf from the French arms company Thint.

Shaik was also convicted of paying Zuma to push Shaik's business interests. Zuma later was charged, but the case was thrown out of court on a technicality; however, a court judgment this year opened the way for charges to be filed again.

A new court affidavit was filed last week outlining evidence that bribes taken by Zuma were as much as three times higher than previously thought. Zuma's legal team has fought to exclude some evidence in the case, while he mounted his campaign for party president.

His supporters insist that the charges were cooked up by his enemies to block him from the top ANC job.

In an unrelated case, Zuma was acquitted of rape last year.

One Mbeki supporter from the president's home town of Dutywa in Eastern Cape province, Victor Stofile, 42, a local councilor and conference delegate, said the renewed possibility of charges was problematic for the ANC.

"You can't take a person who has this doubt hanging over him and make him president of the ANC," he said.

In his speech to delegates, Zuma called for unity and sought to mend fences with Mbeki, his rival for the party presidency, referring to him as a friend, a comrade and a brother.

Zuma insisted that there was no bad blood between supporters of the two leaders who fought over every party position.

The Zuma camp, however, omitted the finance minister, Trevor Manuel, and the head of policy in Mbeki's presidency, Joel Netshitenzhe, from its ticket for the ANC's governing body, the national executive committee.

Zuma repeatedly brushed off questions about why Manuel, who is seen internationally as the linchpin of South Africa's economic stability, was not on the ticket. He said Manuel had done a good job of achieving fiscal discipline.

But perceptions that Manuel is being eased out by the Zuma camp and might be excluded from a future Zuma Cabinet will fuel unease in the business community and among investors about the country's economic direction.

Zuma's allies in the Communist Party and the unions complain that under Manuel, the government's policies have been too pro-business. Zuma, for his part, denied Thursday that there was concern in the business community about his links to the unions and the Communist Party, while pledging more consultation with his allies.

There were already signs emerging Thursday of a future clash between the two rival centers of power -- the ANC and the Mbeki government. One of the first battles is likely to be fought over the board of the state-owned network, the South African Broadcasting Corp., which is perceived as being supportive of Mbeki and the government.

Another issue will be the future of the Scorpions, the corruption task force that operates within the National Prosecuting Authority and has pursued high-profile investigations of Zuma and others. As well as electing Zuma, the ANC national conference voted to urge the government to dismantle the Scorpions and move a corruption and graft unit into the police force.

He has been reported as supporting a renewal of debate on the return of the death penalty, but denied raising the issue. However, he said that if the people of South Africa wanted to debate the issue, they should.

Before being voted in as leader, Zuma had hinted at a different approach than Mbeki's "quiet diplomacy" on Zimbabwe -- refraining from criticism of human rights abuses in order to engage the government of President Robert Mugabe.

But Zuma pledged to continue the quiet diplomacy, saying the targeted sanctions of Western countries against Mugabe and other Zimbabwean officials had achieved nothing.

robyn.dixon@latimes.com