The struggle to succeed South Africa’s president heats up

IN THE twilight of his unpopular presidency, Jacob Zuma has to vet his crowds carefully. Almost wherever he speaks, he risks a clamour of boos and jeers, many from members of his own party, the African National Congress (ANC). A rally organised by the country’s main trade union federation, which is formally allied with the ANC, should have been a perfect opportunity for him to drone on about the party’s achievements since ending white-minority rule in 1994. But he never got the chance to speak; union members shouted him down. Two of his closest supporters were also heckled at May Day rallies in different cities on the same day. Unionised workers, who in past elections made up most of the activists going door-to-door to canvas for the ANC, are turning against a tainted president, and against a party that excuses his many scandals.

Mr Zuma’s second and final term of office still has two years to run. Yet the race to succeed him is already on. A lot rests on this transition. It could determine whether the country’s democratic institutions are revived, or whether South Africa descends further into a swamp of corruption and stagnation. “They are demanding bribes to get anything done,” laments one businessman, adding that it was not nearly as bad under previous ANC presidents.