ANC restores Zuma's leadership role
South African Jacob Zuma will resume his duties as the deputy president of the ruling African National Congress following his acquittal on rape charges, the party said tonight.
Zuma, the former deputy president of the country, was acquitted last week of raping a 31-year-old, HIV-positive Aids activist and family friend.
He had voluntarily suspended himself from his official duties when he was charged last December pending the outcome of the trial.
After he was acquitted, Zuma told the party in a letter he was ready to resume his duties.
The party’s National Executive Committee, which met privately on Sunday night, decided Zuma should resume his participation in the leading structures of the party without delay.
Zuma was fired by President Thabo Mbeki as the deputy president of the country after corruption charges were filed against him last year.
He is scheduled to go on trial in July on fraud and corruption charges connected with a large government arms deal. Those charges were unrelated to the rape case.
Zumat, once seen as the man most likely to succeed Mbeki when his term ends in 2009, has maintained that both the corruption and the rape charges were the result of a conspiracy by unidentified people within the governing party who wanted to derail his political career.
Even though he was acquitted, Zuma’s testimony during the trial demonstrated an ignorance about HIV transmission and raised questions about his attitudes toward women and whether he had the judgment to govern.
The forthcoming corruption trial has also harmed him but he continues to have vigorous supporters, many of whom believe he has been the victim of a smear campaign, and appears intent on reviving his political career.
