AFRICA/SOUTH AFRICA - “Zuma should be prosecuted,” says Supreme Court of Appeals; African National Congress leader is also a presidential candidate in this year's election

Johannesburg (Agenzia Fides) – The Supreme Court of Appeals in South Africa has overturned a lower court's decision to throw out the case of corruption against Jacob Zuma, leader of the African National Congress, thus opening the way for a new process.
The decision comes just months before elections and the reopening of the Zuma case could seriously hurt his image in this crucial moment.
The decision says that the previous sentence from September 12, 2008, in which a judge of the High Court released the charges of corruption faced by Zuma, was void, due to various errors. The judge had dismissed the accusations of corruption, fraud, and other acts made against Zuma and implied that former President Thabo Mbeki had interfered in the case. This sentence led to a political uproar, ending finally with the resignation of President Mbeki, and split the party. From the ANC has come an anti-Zuma faction constituted by the Congress of the People (COPE), a new political formation that challenges the ANC's primacy among its traditional voters.
The ANC says that it is fully aware of the sentence, insisting on its innocence and that of its President.
“The ANC respects the judge's decision, without reserve. The ANC and its President reserve the right to take advantage of every law-given option. The judgment will not affect the decision of the ANC that Zuma be the ANC's presidential candidate for the 2009 elections.”
Zuma is accused of having accepted bribes from a French agency in regards to a multi-billion dollar arms deal made in South Africa in 1999. He was also accused, and later acquitted, on charges of sexual abuse.
Zuma was a member of the military branch of the ANC at the time of the fight against Apartheid. He spent 10 years in jail on Robben Island (the same jail where Nelson Mandela was held prisoner) and later expelled from the country. Once he became Head of Intelligence for the party, he used this position in order to climb the ranks of the ANC, and later of the State. After the regime of Apartheid, Suma was elected Vice-President of South Africa for 6 years. In 2006, President Mbeki dismissed him after facing accusations of corruption.
The presidential elections of 2009 are crucial for South Africa's future, as it is a leading country among the nations of sub-Saharan Africa and its economy is suffering greatly from the world financial crisis. In addition to the impoverishment of the population, there are the troubling signs of xenophobia against immigrants (especially those from Zimbabwe), who are accused of “taking work away from South Africans.” A crisis among high-ranking government officials would lead to more chaos and uncertainty which would not be positive for the country, especially for the poorest of the population who expect to be freed from the economic Apartheid, after the political one. (LM) (Agenzia Fides 12/1/2009)