The newly elected President of South Africa, Jacob Zuma.

© Reporters.be

Jacob Zuma, the leader of the African National Congress (ANC), was sworn in as South Africa's new president on 9 May. At 67 years of age, this controversial politician is succeeding Kgalema Motlanthe, his ally who has been interim president since Thabo Mbeki was deposed in September 2008. Zuma was officially elected by the South African parliament on 6 May after the ANC won general elections.

On 22 April, almost 80 per cent of South Africa’s 23 million electorate turned out at the polling stations, compared to 72 per cent in 2004. While the ANC won almost 66 per cent of the vote, the new dissident party, called COPE and created by the allies of Thabo Mbeki in January, took almost 8 per cent. The Democratic Alliance led by Helen Zille, the Mayor of Cape Town who is of German origin, remains the main opposition party, winning 16 per cent of the vote nationally and almost 50 per cent in the province of Western Cape, strengthening its position in all parts of the country.

Jacob Zuma is the fourth head of state in post-apartheid South Africa. The first was Nelson Mandela in 1989, while Thabo Mbeki was elected president on the other two occasions in 1994 and 1999.

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