South Africa swears in Zuma as new president

[May 09, 2009]  PRETORIA, South Africa (AP) -- Jacob Zuma became president of Africa's economic powerhouse Saturday, vowing to work to fulfill the dreams of all South Africans after he overcame corruption and sex scandals to reach the nation's highest office.

Tens of thousands of spectators at Zuma's inauguration screamed their approval, dignitaries applauded and a Zulu praise singer in traditional animal skins extolled the virtues of Zuma, whose popularity rivals only that of Nelson Mandela.

"The dreams and hopes of all the people of our country must be fulfilled," Zuma promised. "There is no place for complacency, no place for cynicism, no place for excuses."

South Africa's fourth president since apartheid ended 15 years ago is no stranger to struggle. Zuma, 67, is a former guerrilla fighter and intelligence chief of the African National Congress who has since survived corruption and sex scandals and an internal power struggle within his party.

The ANC handily won last month's parliamentary elections and Zuma was elected president by parliament on Wednesday.

Many impoverished black South Africans believe Zuma's personal battles and eventual triumph give him special insight into their own struggles and aspirations.

Zuma urged South Africans on Saturday to ensure "that the struggles and sacrifices of our people over many decades shall not be in vain. Instead, they shall inspire us to complete the task for which so much blood was shed and so much hardship endured."

Zuma now leads a country where at least a quarter of the work force is unemployed and 1,000 people die of AIDS every day.

He is promising to speed up delivery of houses, clinics, schools, running water and electricity. But he also has acknowledged the difficulties amid a global economic meltdown. According to government figures this week, 208,000 jobs were lost between the last quarter of 2008 and the first quarter of 2009.

On Saturday, he acknowledged the "difficult economic times" and that "we are beginning to feel the pinch." But he said "the foundations of our economy are strong and we need to continue to build on them" through more hard work than ever.

A fleet of helicopters suspending South Africa's red, green and blue flags flew over Saturday's ceremony. Cannons boomed, a military brass band broke into the anthem "God Bless Africa." Zuma took a military salute as fighter jets streaming colored smoke zoomed above.

Tens of thousands had broken into spontaneous song when Zuma arrived, beaming, accompanied by his senior wife, Sizakele Khumalo. Zuma's unabashed polygamy has raised questions about which of his three current wives may act as first lady. On Saturday, all three were reported present but only Khumalo accompanied him to the stage, where Zuma dropped down onto his knees before Mandela in a traditional sign of respect.

Sydney Mokoena, a 48-year-old Pretoria high school teacher, roused his 10-year-old daughter, Thula, at 4:30 a.m. to get to the lawns early. He said he admired Zuma for the calm he showed during his legal battles over corruption allegations that have now been dropped and a 2006 rape trial that ended with acquittal.

Mokoena also said that while Zuma may not have had much formal education, his leadership of the ANC's intelligence wing during the anti-apartheid struggle was proof he was smart enough to be president.

Zuma will be "a dynamic and vibrant president," Mokoena said. "That's what South Africa needs. He's down to earth and he'll listen."

Mokoena laughed when Thula said she hoped for a glimpse of Mandela. Frail at 90 years old, Mandela makes few appearances, but he arrived for Saturday's inauguration in a golf cart to applause, wolf whistles and the announcer's cheer of "Viva Mandela, Viva."

"We can have three or four or five presidents, people will still be talking about Mandela," Mokoena said.

Silent on Saturday were the critics who fear democratic institutions were compromised by Zuma's rise to power, most recently when prosecutors withdrew charges that Zuma solicited bribes connected to a multibillion-dollar 1990s weapons deal.

The prosecutors claimed to still have a strong case and said their withdrawal had nothing to do with Zuma's guilt or innocence, but hinged on political interference and prosecutorial misconduct.

Saturday's inauguration is a remarkable milestone for a man who once herded livestock in the rural Zulu heartland. His father was a policeman who died when he was a boy. His mother worked as a maid in the coastal city of Durban. Zuma was denied a formal education and by 15 he was doing odd jobs to help support his family.

He joined the ANC in 1959 and by 21 he was arrested while trying to leave the country illegally. Zuma was jailed for 10 years on Robben Island, alongside Mandela and other heroes of the anti-apartheid struggle.

He left South Africa in 1975 for 15 years of exile spent in neighboring Swaziland, Mozambique and Zambia where he was appointed chief of the ANC's intelligence department. Following the lifting of the ANC ban in 1990, Zuma was one of the first leaders to return to South Africa.

He was appointed deputy president in 1999 by then-President Thabo Mbeki who fired him in 2005, when Zuma was implicated in the corruption trial of a close friend and financial adviser.

Mbeki later lost a bitter power struggle with Zuma for the party leadership and was eventually forced last year to yield the presidency to an interim successor, Kgalema Motlanthe, until this year's election.

Prosecutors lifted the last obstacle in Zuma's path last month when they announced that they were dropping corruption charges against him, saying the criminal charges would never be revived.

[Associated Press; By DONNA BRYSON]

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