...maybe he will transcend above all this criticism and make south africa a better place to live, who knows maybe.........

Gumede presents an unnecessarily gloomy picture. Sure, South Africa has problems. Who doesn't? It also has a remarkable track record of solving problems. I'm not South African, but I've been involved with the country as a journalist since 1977. The failure to understand South Africa is encapsulated in the world "miracle" which was used to describe the country's democratic transition in 1994. It wasn't a miracle. And no, it was solely down to one great man. It was an expression of the qualities that make South Africa tick. I suspect Zuma will surprise on the upside. And if he doesn't South Africa will cope.

I have been to RSA and am saddened by the Zuma phenomena. He is another Mugabe who will rely upon intimidation, cronyism and personal connection corruptions in his governance.

His favorite campaign song is "Bring me my machine gun" which does not bode well for South Africa.

The problem is that while Zuma is certainly not the answer - there is no other answer. It will only get worse down there and will probably turn into another african begging bowl.

I think Zuma represents the masses of South Africa to a degree no other president including the very capable president Thabo Mbeki. Mbeki was accused by the majority of his people of enriching the whites and a few blacks.

So the ignorant masses of South Africa did away with him and supported instead the populist candidate Jacob Zuma. Apparently his moral or intellectual shortcomings were not a requirement for leading a country as wealthy and as sophisticated as South Africa.

This is because their needs are simple and very basic and I think they got lost as to where Mbeki was going in his 2 hour shakespearian speeches.

Zuma is simple like the South African people and amoral and by singing and dancing to anti-apartheid music he won many hearts of the majority blacks in South Africa. He tells them what they want to hear and he is their chosen candidate.

One can worry that South Africa is well on its way to becoming an economic disaster like the rest of Africa because of Zuma's character but we miss one major point.

He is popular and was democratically elected.

So lets see what he does in power and whether the South African masses in putting him in power can get rid of him as easily (which is no feat when it comes to African presidents).

The main real threat to the South African economy is that the election of Zuma may mean a withdrawal of minority white and foreign capital from a country whose economy is heavily dependant on it. It may be replaced by Chinese or Indian capital but it remains to be seen. What it will mean is that South Africa will have a massively bigger unemployment problem than it has now since most of the jobs created are by the very same private sector that got rich under the demonized Mbeki.

Somali! You r out of order and u r insane, u need 2 get help coz u r a walking time bomb and u r danger 2 urself and who so ever come across such a lunatic like u is in danger. Its true that the west plays big role to the media but we don't have 2 loose our mind about that. Mugabe yes is better compared 2 W.Bush coz that one is a monster is just it will take years 4 the truth 2 surface 2 ppl so they can know the truth.

Saying what u r saying about Nelson Mandela and Desmond Tutu I think u are push ur own agenda using a wrong platform. Pushing religion warfare in a political debate that show lack of knowledge and sickness in ur mind, unfortunately we r not psychiatric so we can diagnosis on what u r suffering from.

Please go and c sociologist bcoz u r still in ur pre-sac stage n u need help. Zuma will be S.A. u like it or not just u mix politics with religion not surprise anyway from Somalia.

Looking at Zuma like that is ur opinion and u have a right 2 say ur opinion. Zuma is a victim of political agenda system; from those who r in power and that is the fact coz the r dirty games in politics that u know 2. Zuma will not leader this country on his own, ANC is going 2 mandates Zuma and who so ever who will be in the cabinet to follow ANC policies of some of the things u have counted above r ANC policies.

It is people like u who in the 1st place want 2 destroyed his image, integrity and his intellectual capacity as a president and u have failed dismal "the whole media". So its not surprising u stand against man that people of S.A. want as a president, so wish this country bad luck is a wish that this continent must be dark n not emerge own its own and from its own leader and vindicate colonialist system 4 good.

The NPA has become a sad joke. They have denied Zuma his constitutional right to a speedy trial. In 2006, almost six years after they began their smear campaign of Zuma, they were not ready to proceed; the trial was struck off the court role. In South Africa, you are innocent until proven guilty. You, like so many others (mostly educated Africans) have pronounced Zuma guilty and tried him in the media. Understand this: he is not going anywhere. This is a democracy and we have voted for him. Like it or not. The true corruption in this country is the plethora of twisted so-called Black Economic Empowerment deals that have entrenched white economic control. We will rverse that. That is why you write the nonsense that you do: doing the white mans's dirty work for him. Shame on you.

I was so proud and hopeful when the new administration took over from the apartheid government but after more than a decade of corruption, mismanagement, censorship, [our sole source of radio news is now only the SABC and the poor cannot afford printed media] and self-praise by the ANC and am making serious plans to emigrate before Zuma becomes president. So many of my fellow Africans now say " the moe things change, the more they remain the same"
Thanks for this opportunity!
James Mashele

I concur with you that Msholozi's baggage is rather too big for South Africans and am also quite dissappointed as to the person he has become.

Babu Msholozi had to do an honourable thing (based on all the issues and scandals etc) that is ... he was supposed not avail himself for nomination at Polokwane, in this manner , he would have remained a very important person within the ANC and ensured that the movement enjoys the respect and admiration it once enjoyed.

Needless to say , the ANC's image is in tatters bacause of Babu Msholozi scandals, I am not at all convinced that he is / was not aware of the possible consequences of his actions , what they mean for the ANC, what effects they have on the ANC and the South Africans at large ... I can also conclude that ....If Babu Msholozi is/ was really was commited to the ANC, he was not to stand at Polokwane.His failure to step aside in Polokwane and all the chaos that this has created indicates how he has developed poisonous hunger for power and opportunism,charecteristics that one wouldnt associate with Babu Msholozi.

I am very dissapointed at what he has become as a leader , his pursuit for power and presidency has blinded him and turned him into a selfish , self intereted individual.

The Babu Msholozi we know would'nt have elected and supported Msholozi in Polokwane nor approve the new version Msholozi as a President of the ANC , I mean if he had not changed , he wouldnt vote for himself under the current circumstances , He has changed and unfortunately does not care about the ANC nor the people/ masses , he is hungry for power and Presidency at the expense of the ANC and all of us. What a shame !, I just wish he would come to his senses and realise what his candidature has / is doing to the ANC and South Africa at large.

Mr. Gumede is perfectly right in his diagnosis, but one can hardly expect a country like South Africa, with its legacy of the monstrously violent system of apartheid, 'necklaces', institutionalised inequality and injustice, to present the characteristics of a corruption-free society when even the most advanced democracies cannot do that. The other possible candidates are Tokyo Sexwale, Cyril Ramaphosa and Matthews Phosa, but they have either their own 'baggage' of alleged corruption or coziness with oligarchic corporate interests that have a past of having benefited unduly from the apartheied system. Unfortunately, the post-apartheid system has its own racially-defined constraints on who could be eligible to lead South Africa ---- certainly Kader Asmal would not qualify in 2009, and Trevor Manuel's chances are very remote in 2009 also.

Given these other imperfections, Zuma is the least unpalatable choice.

The stinking coment section doesn't work. Someone is playing with it and i believe for nefarious reasons.

But I don't care. This will be my last post to stinking washingtonpost.com. I am tired of the stinking LIES of the jews and their stinking white man Slaves who dominate this webpage.

I am also living this stinking webpage because America has become a THIRD WORLD cesspool and no longer worth any interest. I will watch from afar, from other reliable websites and more honest news organization.

GOODBYE stinking washingtonpost and may God speed up your sure, coming collapse!!!! The LIES are sooooo heavy they are bound to collapse this stinking website that has been taken over by hateful jews and stupid white slaves!!!

The Baby-Murdering, Cocaine-Snorting Terrorist They Call "president" Is The Enemy Of Humanity!!

Yes Zuma. A very corrupt fellow, a very, very corrupt fellow who likes to dress himself falsely in the garb of "nationalist." This man, like Mandela, will SELL South Africa to the highest bidder, ussually this means to whites and jews.

South Africans should NEVER allow Zuma to be their next president. He is in the pockets of jews and whites who are HOGGING the economy in South Africa while the sons and daughters of South Africa starve and attack "foreigners", in reality their fellow Africans!!

The real foreigners are the jews and whites who are siphoning off the wealth of south Africa, bleeding the country dry before it benefits its TRUE people!!

It is why I support Robert Mugabe and regard him as one the TWO Best Presidents of Africa. Mandela sold his country to the jew and white man. But Robert Mugabe fought them to the bitter end. And Zimbabwe will be better off for it. SOUTH AFRICANS WILL HAVE TO FIGHT ANOTHER LIBERATION WAR TO DISLODGE THE JEW AND WHITE MAN WHO WERE ALLOWED BY MANDELA AND BISHOP TUTU TO STEAL THE WEALTH OF SOUTH AFRICA!!!!!!