Country
Countries A-Z
South Africa
Republic of South Africa
Republiek van Suid-Afrika
Note: Former deputy president Jacob Zuma was elected president of the ruling African National Congress (ANC) at the party’s leadership convention on December 18, 2007, easily defeating the incumbent, South African President Thabo Mbeki, by a vote of 2,329–1,505. Zuma, a populist who enjoyed the support of trade unions, the Communist Party of South Africa, and other left-wing elements of the ANC, consequently became the presumptive ANC candidate for the 2009 presidential election, although his status remained potentially compromised by corruption charges that had been reinstated in November 2007 after having been dropped on a technicality in 2006. Many other Mbeki loyalists were also ousted from ANC leadership positions at the convention.
Political Status: Fully independent state since 1934; republican regime ...