South African President Jacob Zuma has been re-elected as the leader of the ruling African National Congress until 2007, easily overcoming a challenge posed by his deputy Kgalema Motlanthe.
In the ballot held at the national conference of the ANC in the central city of Bloemfontein on Tuesday, Zuma won an overwhelming 2,986 of the total 3,977 votes cast. In comparison, his rival Motlanthe managed to secure only 991 votes.
"We can boast that we're a leader of our society, that therefore we have something to contribute to the democratic life of this country, to this democratic Republic of South Africa," Zuma said after his re-election as ANC leader.
"We are certain that at this course in our democracy we are correct, that what we do at all material times, it is in the interest, not just of our organization, but of our country and its people," he added.
Separately, Cyril Ramaphosa, a former union leader who is currently South Africa's second-richest black businessman, was elected as ANC's deputy leader in Tuesday's ballot. He got the chance to contest for the post after Motlanthe withdrew his candidature for re-election as the party's deputy leader in order to further his chances of getting elected to the top party post.
Ramaphosa was once a close ally of South Africa's first black President Nelson Mandela, and was the favorite to become ANC's deputy leader despite challenges from ANC Treasurer-General Mathews Phosa and Human Settlements Minister Tokyo Sexwale.
Zuma's overwhelming victory in Tuesday's ANC leadership elections guarantees him the ruling party's candidacy for the presidential elections scheduled to be held in 2014, thereby effectively assuring the 70-year-old of re-election as the country's president for a second consecutive term.
The ANC has been ruling South Africa ever since it first came to power under Nelson Mandela in the country's first all-race elections in 1994. Mandela stepped down as president in 1999, after just after one term in office.
Zuma is now most likely to remain the country's president until 2019. Incidentally, he had promised to stand down after one term as the ANC leader during his successful campaign for the party's top post in 2007.
Zuma has been widely criticized for failing to reduce poverty and tackle corruption within the ANC as well as his government. Nevertheless, he continues to be overwhelmingly popular in the ANC despite being involved in a number of personal scandals.
Zuma had faced corruption charges ahead of the June 2009 elections that brought him to office, but they were dropped later on a technicality. A conviction before the general elections would have barred him from contesting the elections.
Zuma faced charges of money laundering, corruption and fraud in connection with an arms deal, which involved French arms firm Thales. Incidentally, he was fired from the post of Deputy President in 2005 after his financial adviser, Schabir Shaik, was found guilty in the case.
There were widespread criticism in South Africa about the way in which the corruption case against Zuma was handled, with the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) accused of being heavily politicized.
Nevertheless, Zuma has consistently denied any wrongdoing in the arms deal. His supporters allege that the corruption case was part of a "political conspiracy" orchestrated by former President Thabo Mbeki to prevent Zuma from becoming the country's president.
Mbeki was forced to resign from presidency over his alleged involvement in the corruption case against Zuma. In wake of the criticism that followed the withdrawal of the corruption case, Zuma recently ordered a re-investigation into the 1999 arms deal in which he himself was accused of corruptly benefiting.
Prior to the withdrawal of the corruption case, a court had acquitted Zuma in 2006 of raping an HIV positive family friend at his Johannesburg residence. That case had evoked widespread public interest in South Africa and attracted condemnation from several women's groups in the country and abroad.
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