Could the controversial Jacob Zuma be a good president?
For such a weighty gathering, it was a decidedly undignified start. Delegates tried to drown out rival factions with songs and jeers so loud that conference organizers had to warn them to quiet down. But even when the noise stopped, it was the chant Awuleth umshini wami (Bring me my machine gun) that prevailed. The song—a throwback to the anti-apartheid struggle that has since taken on a raunchier meaning—is the trademark of Jacob Zuma, the man now firmly on track to become South Africa’s third black president. Zuma, 65, was elected Tuesday as head of the ruling African National Congress (ANC) after a divisive battle against the incumbent, President Thabo Mbeki. Zuma won some 60 percent of the votes from the 4,000 party members meeting in Polokwane after the ballot was delayed for two days by procedural disputes. Mbeki, who succeeded Nelson Mandela as South Africa’s leader, was hoping to retain the ANC’s influential top position, even though term limits prevent him from staying on as p
