Will Zuma bring tribalism to South Africa?
BBC News South Africa’s first democratically elected president, Nelson Mandela, promoted a “Rainbow Nation”; his successor Thabo Mbeki an “African Renaissance”; so what will be the overarching vision of a Jacob Zuma presidency? He has not yet outlined one, but he is likely to do so in his first state-of-the-nation address when the new parliament convenes. The initial signs are that Mr Zuma will promote a new conservatism in South Africa, digging deep into the nation’s cultural and religious roots and threatening Western-styled liberal values enshrined in the constitution. Mr Zuma’s supporters showed these traits throughout his eight-year-long presidential campaign, offering prayers to ancestors, denouncing same-sex marriage as a “disgrace to God”, promising a referendum on the death penalty, condemning political rivals as “witches” and “snakes”, and defending polygamy as “African”. Of all the white groups in South Africa, it is only the Afrikaners that are truly South African For Mr Zu
