South Africa is going straight to hell.

[Bowiefan871]

I'm sure many of you have just found out that the ANC has chosen Jacob Zuma as their presidential candidate. For those of you that don't know, this man has a history of corruption and rape charges. He's also known for making very stupid comments, like claiming that taking a shower would protect him from HIV.

I'm just so shocked...at this point I hope the Democratic Alliance wins.

[franki]

You have chosen the perfect title to your post My beautiful South Africa is going straight to hell and noone does anything about it!!

[ches]

Back the truck up there, cowboy. They have not chosen Zuma as their presidential candidate, they have chosen him as the party leader. It would follow that he would be the presidential candidate at the next elections, assuming he is still the party leader at that time, but that is still 2 years away. Mbeki will remain president until 2009. ... As for the rape charges, he was found innocent, and not in the same sense that OJ Simpson was found innocent.

Personally I am not at all a fan of Zuma, however, I do not think that Zuma means the end for democracy in South Africa, and here's why. Zuma was very recently on a "world tour" (paid for by whom?) visiting investors and business leaders, making it clear that with him at the helm, economic policy will not change in South Africa. This tells me that Zuma is a poster boy/puppet leader, chosen because he appeals to the masses (to whom he promised socialism) while people with brains are pulling his strings.

[franki]

Originally Posted by ches

Back the truck up there, cowboy. They have not chosen Zuma as their presidential candidate, they have chosen him as the party leader. It would follow that he would be the presidential candidate at the next elections, assuming he is still the party leader at that time, but that is still 2 years away. Mbeki will remain president until 2009. ... As for the rape charges, he was found innocent, and not in the same sense that OJ Simpson was found innocent.

Personally I am not at all a fan of Zuma, however, I do not think that Zuma means the end for democracy in South Africa, and here's why. Zuma was very recently on a "world tour" (paid for by whom?) visiting investors and business leaders, making it clear that with him at the helm, economic policy will not change in South Africa. This tells me that Zuma is a poster boy/puppet leader, chosen because he appeals to the masses (to whom he promised socialism) while people with brains are pulling his strings.

Congrats on the optimism I wish I could see it that way!

[Bowiefan871]

Originally Posted by ches

As for the rape charges, he was found innocent, and not in the same sense that OJ Simpson was found innocent.

Not in the same sense that OJ Simpson was? He is a powerful man so I really doubt that especially since South Africa has the highest rape statistics.

[ches]

What? SA has high rape statistics so now every powerful man in our country is a rapist and our courts are no longer impartial? Our courts managed to stay impartial to a large extent during apartheid even (why Mandela and others did not get the death penalty) so I find that hard to believe.

[Bowiefan871]

Originally Posted by ches

What? SA has high rape statistics so now every powerful man in our country is a rapist and our courts are no longer impartial? Our courts managed to stay impartial to a large extent during apartheid even (why Mandela and others did not get the death penalty) so I find that hard to believe.

Even if a court remains impartial a guilty man can still be found innocent. Nonetheless, I really don't see how you can provide hard evidence that SA courts are impartial. I find this Zuma guy a bit sketchy considering he was charged with corruption as well and then later on made a really ignorant statement about HIV. I mean, didn't he run some HIV support organization as well?