South Africa's Zuma-rang

South African president Thabo Mbeki'sfailure to get re-elected as head of the country's ruling party underlines just how much the leaders who ran the struggle against apartheid under Nelson Mandela have lost touch with their roots. At the annual conference of the African National Congress (ANC), in the northern city of Polokwane, Jacob Zuma, 65, was elected party chief with a 61%-to-39% split on Dec. 18. Now that Zuma has unseated his bitter rival and former boss, his supporters expect him to complete Mbeki's humiliation by replacing him as head of state in the next general election, in 2009.

Zuma's political career...

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