Zuma Ally Picked to Replace Mbeki

South Africa's ruling African National Congress made a significant shift to the left today by choosing a close ally of Jacob Zuma to replace his long-standing rival, Thabo Mbeki, as president.

Kgalema Motlanthe, a left-leaning intellectual, former political prisoner and trade unionist, is the current deputy ANC president is seen as the driving intellectual force behind Zuma.

His appointment comes after Mbeki formally resigned yesterday following a long and bitter power struggle with Zuma, his former deputy.

ANC MPs confirmed Motlanthe's appointment during a meeting of the party's parliamentary caucus, according to Reuters. Khotso Khumalo, an ANC spokesman, said parliament would vote on the new president in the next few days. The ANC-dominated assembly is almost certain to give its official approval to Motlanthe's appointment.

Zuma said the name of the acting president would be formally announced "at an appropriate moment", but added that Motlanthe, would be "equal to the task" if given "that responsibility".

Zuma promised a smooth transition of power, saying the party's policies would not be changed.

"Our economic policies will remain stable, progressive and unchanged, as decided upon in previous ANC national conferences," he said.

He said the decision to ask Mbeki to resign as president had been one of the most difficult in the history of the ruling party.

Zuma is expected to become president after next year's elections but is barred by the constitution from taking over immediately because he is not a member of parliament.

He praised Mbeki and his government and said the ANC would continue to "give tasks" to the ousted leader "as a cadre and senior leader of the movement".

However, the political struggle that ousted Mbeki was criticized today by Archbishop Desmond Tutu, considered a beacon of moral authority in South Africa, who warned that the country risked becoming a "banana republic".

Tutu, a Nobel laureate, said that although Mbeki had made enemies because of "his intolerance of challenges and dissent", his enemies were "gloating as they rub his nose in the mud".

He said: "There is nothing principled about that. It is good old-fashioned tit for tat. The way of retribution leads to a banana republic."

Tutu voiced concern that Zuma still faces corruption allegations, and said they would remain until he was tried for allegedly accepting bribes in a huge arms scandal that erupted nearly a decade ago.

The archbishop had strained relations with Mbeki after criticizing his government for doing too little to alleviate poverty. But he has also upset Zuma supporters by saying he is not suitable to become president after being accused of both rape and corruption.

Mbeki called an emergency meeting of his cabinet as many of his ministers threatened to resign in solidarity after the ANC on Saturday told the president to agree to step down or face being removed by parliament.

Mbeki handed his resignation letter to the speaker of parliament yesterday, and in an unusually humble speech broadcast on the national TV broadcaster SABC, he said he had decided to step down out of loyalty to the party that was rejecting him.

"I have been a loyal member of the African National Congress for 52 years," he said. "I remain a member of the ANC and therefore respect its decisions. It is for this reason that I have taken the decision to resign as president of the republic."

But Mbeki "categorically" denied the central accusation against him that was the immediate cause of his forced resignation.

ANC leaders moved against the president after prosecutors said they would appeal against a high court decision that threw out corruption charges against Zuma and accused Mbeki and his officials of abusing the courts as part of the power struggle over the party.

The president said he and his cabinet had not interfered in prosecution decisions. "This applies equally to the painful matter relating to the court proceedings against the president of the ANC, comrade Jacob Zuma," he said.

Stepping down marks the end of nine years of Mbeki rule that began with the promise of South Africa leading an African renaissance but ended with the humiliation of a president who had alienated much of his own party, in part because of policy differences with the left but also because of his vindictive style of rule.

But many South Africans also see Mbeki's downfall as principally intended to protect Zuma from prosecution for allegedly accepting bribes related to a multibillion-dollar arms deal.

The outgoing president set out what he saw as his legacy in building the economy, bringing peace to parts of Africa and empowering women.However, he acknowledged that despite consistent economic growth, millions of South Africans remained in poverty.

Many commentators welcomed his resignation, including critics of the president's widely derided policies on Aids. Zackie Achmat, head of the Treatment Action Campaign, said Mbeki had abandoned hundreds of thousands of people in need of lifesaving treatment, and should be called to account.

"This is long overdue," said Achmat. "I would have liked to see him impeached for causing the deaths of many hundreds of thousands of people living with HIV, for the corruption of the arms deal, [and] for the undermining of every independent state institution."

The leader of the opposition Democratic Alliance, Helen Zille, accused the ANC of putting its own political battles ahead of the national interest.

"It is revenge, pure and simple. It has everything to do with the internal battles of the ANC and nothing to do with the interest of South Africa," she said.

FW de Klerk, the last white president of South Africa, who negotiated an end to apartheid, was also critical of Mbeki's dismissal.

"It is unfortunate that a sitting president should be forced from office before the end of his term," he said.