The two most powerful men in the country's politics flanked grieving widow Linda Makhaye at the funeral of African National Congress firebrand Dumisani Makhaye on 30 October. To Ms. Makhaye's right, an immaculately suited President Thabo Mbeki stared into the middle distance and to her left, Deputy President Jacob Zuma bowed his head, clutching a pen and some scribbled notes. An ebullient, self-educated activist, Zuma is a world apart from the cerebral, reserved Mbeki. Both are playing for the highest stakes as positioning starts for the presidential succession, due in 2009. Like Zuma, Dumisani Makhaye was a local hero in KwaZulu-Natal. When Zuma began his eulogy, the 10,000-strong crowd started singing tributes to both Zuma and the late Dumisani.