Guerrilla chief gets a hero's welcome

Zuma victorious in South Africa corruption case

Jacob Zuma, leader of South Africa's governing African National Congress, left court after his win. He is likely to be president. (Rogan Ward/Reuters)

PIETERMARITZBURG, South Africa - The man likely to be South Africa's next president emerged victorious yesterday from a corruption case that dogged him eight years, getting a hero's welcome from supporters hungry for a charismatic leader who understands the pain of poverty.

Jacob Zuma, a 66-year-old former guerrilla chief who already survived a rape scandal to rise to the leadership of the governing African National Congress, cleared a legal hurdle to his presidential ambitions when a judge dismissed fraud, money laundering, and corruption charges.

"It is a victory for democracy," a beaming Zuma declared to thousands of supporters singing and dancing in a display of his intense popular support that has been dubbed the "Zsunami."

While he is lionized by the impoverished masses, Zuma is struggling to connect with nervous business leaders and foreign investors, who worry whether he harbors radical economic ideas.

But even some business leaders wanted the charges against Zuma dropped in the interests of political stability for Africa's most powerful economy, given threats by his supporters to make the country ungovernable.

Zuma has sought to reassure the business community that he will not lead South Africa down the ruinous path that wrecked the thriving farm-based economy of Zimbabwe, and he wooed multinational investors at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.

He also has reached out to poor whites and the Jewish community, and on Monday is to address members of the Greek, Italian and Portuguese communities.

The court ruling was just the latest turn in what has been a remarkable roller-coaster ride for Zuma. He was fired as deputy president in 2005, acquitted of rape in 2006, elected head of the ruling ANC last year and now stands within grasp of the presidency.

Zuma told the crowd he was victim of a political plot by his rival, President Thabo Mbeki. But Zuma peppered his speech with his typical humor and finished off with an anti-apartheid song that has become his trademark - "Bring Me My Machine Gun."

On a makeshift stage backed with posters declaring "Hands Off Jacob Zuma," he savored every moment, singing with gusto and gyrating his hips.

Large numbers of women, from schoolgirls to grandmothers, were in the crowd. His popularity among women is high despite the 2006 trial for allegedly raping a family friend half his age. He was acquitted, but conceded he had unprotected sex with the HIV-infected woman and took a shower afterward in the belief that would reduce the risk.

Zuma has since mended fences with health activists who say he acknowledges the scale of the country's AIDS epidemic, unlike Mbeki.

Feminists remain wary, not least because he is a self-proclaimed polygamist. Zuma backed out of a planned gala appearance with boxer and convicted rapist Mike Tyson last year apparently for fear of the headlines it would attract.

Zuma is expected to become South Africa's president after elections in April or May.