South Africa's Image Problem Grows

Just as our country seems to be pulling itself together after years of deliberate division by its polarizing political leaders, South Africa is poised to divide the country over criminal charges being dropped against the almost certain next President, Charles Zuma.

For South Africa, a nascent democracy that has prided itself as a model practitioner of the rule of law, Monday’s announcement leaves a peculiar aftertaste. The allegations in the Zuma case had been seen by many as a sign of rot at the top, and now the dismissal of the charges stems not from proof of innocence but from evidence of chicanery within the government.

“This is the culmination of the campaign of the dodgy characters in the A.N.C. to reduce this country to a banana republic,” said Bantu Holomisa, the leader of an opposition party, the United Democratic Movement.

Mr. Zuma was charged with 12 counts of fraud, two more of corruption and one each of money laundering and racketeering. Sounds like he could be a Senator from Alaska no problem.

With the 2010 World Cup being held in South Africa, the world is watching more than ever. The A.N.C. on Nelson Mandela seems to be such a memory and Zimbabwean neighbor to the North Robert Mugabe's actions almost fiction he is so evil, what is going on down there?

So much for Obama's uplifting "Signed, Sealed, Delivered I'm Yours" by Stevie Wonder. After the announcement, hundreds of A.N.C. members began celebrating in downtown Johannesburg, dancing in jubilation and singing Mr. Zuma’s trademark anthem, “Bring Me My Machine Gun.”

Source: NYT