I’ve been keeping as close an eye as I can this week on the news from South Africa, my favourite place I’ve never been to. The ANC, the party that has held power since the country’s first free elections in 1994, is choosing a new President – and the winner will either become, or have a strong hand in choosing, the next President of South Africa.

Stephanie Nolen has an excellent piece on last night’s rowdy nomination meeting, with background on the incumbent Thabo Mbeki (who can’t actually become President of the country again, having held office for ten years already, but who is trying to control the succession by retaining control of the party) and the challenger, Jacob Zuma. She sets up the contrast between Mbeki’s polished, well-spoken, highly-educated persona versus Zuma’s more “down home” grassroots approach. Both were active members of the fight against apartheid: Mbeki spent years in exile, while Zuma spent years on Robben Island.

I’m no fan of Thabo Mbeki, firstly for his outrageous public denial of the connection between HIV and AIDS and secondly for his support of Zimbabwean dictator Robert Mugabe. On the other hand, there are some knocks against Zuma, too – he was acquitted on rape charges last year (which doesn’t necessarily mean he was innocent – when was the last time you saw a big-name politician get convicted of a crime like that?) and has been accused of corruption at times in his career, and Archbishop Desmond Tutu, who I have a lot of respect for, has spoken out against him.

If I had to choose, though, I’d have to say a bad man who’s willing to deal with AIDS and Mugabe might be better than a good man who isn’t. Plus, Zuma is Zulu, which could help to heal some of the enduring divisions in the country – the Xhosa-dominated ANC and the Zulu-dominated Inkatha Freedom Party were basically at war with each other in the years after apartheid ended, and Zuma was one of the key negotiators who brought an end to the fighting.

Of course, I don’t exactly get a vote – but for the time being Zuma’s camp looks to be in the lead. Check out Stephanie’s article, and also my latest World Hum book about some must-read South African books.

'Two bulls' battle for leadership of ANC: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20071218.wxsouthafrica18/BNStory/International/home

South Africa: Three Great Books: http://www.worldhum.com/weblog/item/south_africa_three_great_books_20071208/