SAfrica's ruling party ousts President Mbeki

[maddezmom]

Source: AP

JOHANNESBURG, South Africa - South Africa's ruling party said Saturday that President Thabo Mbeki had agreed to resign after being asked to step down, a move that could heighten turmoil in Africa's economic powerhouse.

Mbeki was due to stand down next year after two terms in office, but faced growing pressure from supporters of ANC President Jacob Zuma to quit following a judge's ruling that he was instrumental in Zuma being charged with corruption.

African National Congress secretary-general Gwede Mantashe said Saturday that the party's top-level National Executive Committee has "decided to recall the president of the republic before his term of office expires."

"(Mbeki) did not display shock ... He welcomed the news and agreed that he is going to participate in the process and the formalities," Mantashe said.



Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080920/ap_on_re_af/af_south_africa_mbeki;_

[bean fidhleir]

1. Mbeki has been a real disappointment - a lackey of the IMF

He's done nothing at all for the ordinary people, as far as I know. The only ones he's taken care of are the (mostly White) elites.

[Sen. Walter Sobchak]

2. Mbeki was a disappointment, Zuma will be an epic disaster

South Africa has always had a hegemonic cultural group that ruled to the exclusion of all others, No matter who was in charge at a given moment, this is not workable in one of the most diverse nations on earth and chaos is always the result. Black and white doesn't even begin to describe South Africa. Now its the Zulu's turn again.

Zuma is batshit crazy, has a serious serious messiah complex and fancies himself the second comming of Shaka. The only reason Zuma isn't in prison for rape is because of the white judge at his trial who was indifferent to crime between blacks and merely admonished him for screwing such a young woman. Zuma's defense in the trial was his victims short skirt was consent in itself and it was his duty as a Zulu warrior to fuck her.

Although the REAL story was not really the rape in itself, but that Zuma in the trial claimed that AIDS is spread by poor hygine and that after he had sex with the HIV positive victim he had a shower to prevent infection!

And like Robert Mugabe, Zuma has gangs of extremely violent supporters who have already been causing mayhem in their violent attacks on immigrant communities.

It took Robert Mugabe 20 years to flush Zimbabwe down the toilet, I would imagine Zuma will flush South Africa or Shakatakakakastan or whatever he determines the proper Zulu name of South Africa to be in less than 10.

It will be interesting to see what Nelson Mandela and long-time ANC finance minister Trevor Manuel do, since neither of them will have much patience with Zuma.

[struggle4progress]

3. New era looms after ANC tells Mbeki to stand down (AFP)

... The main allegation against Zuma in the now-defunct corruption case had been that he had received bribes for protecting French arms company Thint in an investigation into a controversial weapons deal.

The dismissal of the charges cleared the way for Zuma to run for the South African presidency in elections next year.

Judge Chris Nicholson said the decision to throw out the case was not a reflection of Zuma's guilt or innocence, but a technical decision based on his right to make representations before being recharged.

Mbeki fired Zuma as deputy president in 2005 after his financial advisor was jailed for corruption ...

http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5gXI2V-GvjJJlXUkA8bOCliDyfK2w