South Africa

Manoeuvring over the succession to President Thabo Mbeki in 2009 is becoming increasingly fraught - so much so that a high-level negotiating group was set up last week...

Jacob Zuma's supporters claim that a battle of ideas and loyalties is gripping the African National Congress. On his side are the populists, while President Thabo Mbeki leads...

The main disagreement, over policy on Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe, has been fudged; both sides now back United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan's initiative to offer support for...

President Hu Jintao missed out South Africa on his tour of Africa and the Gulf last month, when he visited Saudi Arabia, Morocco, Nigeria and Kenya. That wasn't...

Jacob Zuma began his political fight-back as soon as he left the Johannesburg High Court on 8 May, after his acquittal on charges of rape (AC Vol 47...

The many misfortunes of Jacob Zuma, self-inflicted or otherwise, have elevated Deputy President Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka (AC Vol 47 No 6). Almost without effort, she has replaced Zuma as...

In the middle of a politically damaging rape trial and facing another on corruption charges in July, Jacob Zuma finds his finances under heavy pressure. His total legal...

Local elections offered South Africans their chance to punish the governing African National Congress. Its urban record is grim: in several areas, there have been riots against poor...

Accusing some government officials of trying to destroy him over the past five years, besieged former Deputy President Jacob Zuma told Africa Confidential that he had a duty...