South African elections: the rats desert Mbeki’s sinking ship
Stephen Chan
Thabo Mbeki in happier times.
One of the most striking characteristics of the run-up to South Africa’s elections has been the indecent rush to endorse Jacob Zuma by the country’s political class. Almost as soon as the national prosecutor announced the dropping of corruption charges against Zuma, the number of people claiming to be his friend increased dramatically. No obstacle was left to stop him becoming President, and so the mob hurried to prove they had been on his side all along.
That entailed very publicly sticking the knife into Thabo Mbeki, most commonly via open letters to the press and media. These missives denounce Mbeki as man of corruption for having instigated the charges against Zuma for political reasons, and for using his high office to persecute a colleague. They do not deliberate on whether the charges against Zuma had any validity.
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