South African parliament elects Motlanthe as president




South Africa‘s parliament on Thursday elected Kgalema Motlanthe as the nation‘s third post-apartheid president, after the dramatic ouster of Thabo Mbeki by his own party.



Kgalema Motlanthe










The ruling party‘s second in command won 269 of the 360 votes cast, Chief Justice of the constitutional court, Pius Langa, said.

”I accordingly declare the honourable Kgalema Motlanthe the duly elected president of the republic of South Africa,” he told the house, which erupted in cheers and applause.

Motlanthe will guide the country toward elections next year while aiming to bridge the gaping divide within the ruling African National Congress as the nation comes to grips with its worst political crisis since the end of apartheid in 1994.

Motlanthe, known as a level-headed presence in the ANC, was sworn- in later in the afternoon, Reuters said.

He will have to build bridges between the supporters of the fallen Mbeki and the ANC president, Jacob Zuma, whose bitter political wrangling led to the resignation of Mbeki last weekend.

Motlanthe attended Mbeki‘s last cabinet meeting Wednesday, trying to send a message of continuity within the government after a third of the country‘s top leaders, including the country‘s deputy president, resigned in solidarity.

While it is expected that seven will stay on in the new administration, several others have said they are not willing.

Zuma, who in December 2007, replaced Mbeki as ANC leader, has downplayed concerns that the political turmoil has plunged the country into crisis.

”There is no problem, the situation is under control, there must be no panic,” he said on e-tv news Wednesday.

As party leader, Zuma is widely expected to be voted into the country‘s top office in the elections next year.

Mbeki bowed to a call to resign from the presidency following a damning court ruling that hinted he was instrumental in a decision made to prosecute his longtime rival, Zuma, whom he fired as the country‘s deputy president in 2005.

He has denied the allegations and is appealing that aspect of the ruling in a bid to clear his name from the insinuation of judicial meddling.

In a farewell letter to his cabinet published on Thursday in The Star newspaper, Mbeki said he had accepted the ANC‘s decision in the interest of South Africa and without ”resistance or rancour.”

The sudden end to Mbeki‘s nine-year administration leaves an embarrassing stain on the legacy of the man who succeeded anti-apartheid hero Nelson Mandela.

The political turmoil has rattled the economy, with currency markets shaken by the decision of the widely-respected finance minister, Trevor Manuel, to resign with the other top officials.

Manuel‘s spokesman later made it clear that he was ready to serve the new administration.

Zuma said the decision to recall Mbeki had been ”one of the most painful and difficult decisions” taken in the party‘s history.


http://odili.net/news/source/2008/sep/26/405.html

Trying this type of shit in Naija will be very risky because this interim president may be dragged out of office.

This guy will be holding brief for Jacob Zuma, the AIDS victim. Zuma is definately gonna make history by being the 'first sitting President to die of AIDS'.

I didn't know he has HIV. When did he get it?

SA's Zuma 'showered to avoid HIV'

Mr Zuma is a veteran of the struggle against apartheid
South African ex-Deputy President Jacob Zuma said he showered after sex with an HIV-positive woman, thinking this would reduce his risk of being infected.
This emerged as he was cross-questioned during his trial for rape. He denies rape but admits to consensual sex, and said he was ready to marry his accuser.

Remarks about HIV made by Mr Zuma in court earlier this week have angered Aids educators.

More than 5m South Africans have HIV - the highest number in the world.

Mr Zuma - previously seen as a possible future president - retains considerable popularity. His supporters see the charge as a political conspiracy.

Mr Zuma said in court on Wednesday he had left his bedroom after having sex with the woman and taken a shower because this "would minimise the risk of contracting the disease [HIV]".

He also said that he was prepared to marry the woman who accused him of rape, and that her aunts were discussing the possibility of marriage and a bride price as Zulu tradition dictates.

"Yes, if we had reached an agreement with that, I would have had my cows ready," Mr Zuma told the court, referring to "lobola": the traditional donation of animals by a husband to his bride's family.

Mr Zuma was being cross-examined by prosecutor Charin de Beer, after testifying in his defence on Monday and Tuesday.

Dismay

Mr Zuma's testimony that he did not use a condom during the encounter, despite knowing the woman was HIV-positive, caused dismay among local Aids activists.


Statements like that can throw years of hard work down the drain
Vicci Tallis, Gender Aids Forum

Testimony sparks Aids fear
Before being sacked as deputy president last year, Mr Zuma headed the government's National Aids Council and the Moral Regeneration Campaign.

Mr Zuma said he normally uses condoms, but did not have one available on the night of the alleged rape.

Having unprotected sex is thought to be the main way in which Aids is spread in Africa.

Mr Zuma, 63, insisted that the woman, 31, who may not be named, had initiated the sexual encounter.

Last week, the defence failed in an application to have the rape charge dropped.

The case has attracted huge publicity and court sessions have drawn demonstrations by groups both for and against Mr Zuma.

Mr Zuma - a veteran of the ANC struggle to end apartheid and a favourite of the party's left wing - was once thought a likely successor to Thabo Mbeki as South African president.

But the allegations of rape and corruption are thought by many to have ended that prospect.

A separate corruption trial is scheduled to begin in the Durban High Court in July. Mr Zuma denies the corruption charge.


http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/4879822.stm

Pathetic reasoning coming from a man his status. Did he go to school at all?