The conventional wisdom on Jacob Zuma’s successful ‘campaign’ for the ANC presidency was that he is a radical. That he had strong support from the trade union and communist allies of the ANC was offered as prove.
Now this comment from a story in this morning’s New York Times:
One veteran analyst of South African politics, Steven Friedman, said Tuesday that critics who were casting Mr. Zuma’s populist rhetoric as a sign of radical change were mistaken.
“The guy is personally problematic, and he has a lot of questions to answer,” Mr. Friedman said. “But this is a mainstream figure who was a bosom buddy and close confidante of Thabo Mbeki. He’s not some wild man coming in from the hills to destroy the palace.”
Full story here.
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