Sunday, September 21, 2008

S.A. MBEKI TO ADDRESS THE NATION!

South African President Thabo Mbeki is to make a televised address, a day after accepting a call by the governing African National Congress to resign.
Mr Mbeki will step down once "all constitutional requirements have been met", his spokesman has said.
The move comes days after a high court judge suggested that Mr Mbeki may have interfered in a corruption case against his rival, ANC leader Jacob Zuma.
Mr Mbeki is currently holding an emergency cabinet meeting.
The BBC's Peter Biles in Johannesburg says it is not yet clear when he will step down or who will succeed him, but the ANC appears to favour the appointment of the parliamentary speaker, Baleka Mbete, as acting president.
Parliament is likely to meet in the coming days to formalise the resignation.
Mr Zuma is widely expected to succeed Mr Mbeki in scheduled elections next year.
The decision to call for Mr Mbeki's early resignation was taken at a meeting of the ANC's National Executive Committee (NEC).


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The ANC's Secretary General Gwede Mantashe said the move had followed "a long and difficult discussion".
He said Mr Mbeki, who has ruled for more than a decade, "did not display shock" at the decision and had agreed to participate "in the process and the formalities".
The decision had been taken for "stability and for a peaceful and prosperous South Africa", Mr Mantashe told a news conference on Saturday.
The ANC secretary general said this was not punishment for Mr Mbeki, adding that the president would be given the chance to continue his role as mediator in Zimbabwe.
At the same time, ANC cabinet members are being urged to remain in government to ensure continued stability.
Our correspondent says this dramatic decision will fundamentally change South Africa's political landscape.

Jacob Zuma: Comeback kid

Mr Mbeki fired Jacob Zuma as deputy president in 2005 after his financial adviser was found guilty of soliciting a bribe on his behalf.
But Mr Zuma returned to the political stage to topple his rival as ANC leader in bitterly contested elections last year.
Earlier this month a High Court judge dismissed corruption and other charges against Mr Zuma, saying there was evidence of political interference in the investigation.
In his ruling the judge said it appeared that Mr Mbeki had colluded with prosecutors against Jacob Zuma as part of the "titanic power struggle" within the ANC.
The accusation was strongly denied by Mr Mbeki.
Mr Mbeki, who has devoted his life to the ANC, succeeded Nelson Mandela as the party's president in 1997.
He became leader of South Africa in 1999 and won a second term in 2004.

Perhaps his biggest policy success has been South Africa's rapid economic growth since the end of apartheid and the rise of a black middle class - but to the anger of many, wealth is more unevenly distributed than ever before.
He has failed to convince the trade unions and the poorest South Africans that the government has acted in their interest - providing space for Mr Zuma to mobilise a powerful constituency.
Domestically, his government's handling of the HIV/Aids crisis and failure to stem violent crime in the country has weakened his hand.
BBC NEWS REPORT.

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