Jacob Zuma, the leader of South Africa’s ruling African National Congress, may have been left off the hook on a technicality on corruption, fraud and money laundering charges, but it would be better for him to defend himself in court to lift the cloud of allegations of corruption swirling around his head.

On Friday, South Africa’s High Court ruled the fraud and corruption charges against Zuma — the front-runner to succeed South African President Thabo Mbeki next year — were invalid because prosecutors failed to follow proper procedures. Zuma faces 16 charges of fraud, corruption and racketeering, including receiving bribes totaling $500,000 from arms dealers. Judge Chris Nicholson ruled that the National Prosecuting Authority should have consulted Zuma before it pressed corruption charges against him in 2007. Importantly, Judge Nicholson emphasized that he was not giving a verdict on whether Zuma was innocent or guilty and said prosecutors were free to bring charges again.

The increased political pressure now likely to come from Zuma’s buoyant backers and the question marks raised about the prosecuting authority’s competency over this, the second procedural lapse in the case, will make it very difficult for them to press on with charges. Nicholson’s decision in the Pietermaritzburg High Court clears a significant hurdle for Zuma, 66, to secure his party’s nomination for president in next general elections.

South African President Thabo Mbeki’s second and final terms ends next year. Such is the African National Congress’s political dominance that whoever is the party’s chosen candidate for South Africa’s presidency is assured victory.

Yet, if Zuma does not answer the allegations fully in court, the lingering questions over his involvement in alleged corruption will continue to paralyze government, erode public confidence and undermine the democracy. A new South African president will need to tackle a pervasive air of public corruption, which will demand honesty.

Judge Nicholson rightly heavily criticised Mbeki and his government for routinely abusing public institutions to launch vendettas against critics. Yet, in his campaign to quash the corruption charges against him, Zuma and his sometimes violent supporters have attacked the judiciary, democratic institutions, the media and his critics to such an extent that the country’s not yet consolidated constitutional system, institutions and values are put at risk in the same way as they were by Mbeki’s previous manipulation of them.

   Jacob Zuma in Traditional Zulu Garb
Zuma may be popular, but there is a considerable opposition from within the ANC against him, a populist, sexist and homophobic leader with controversial views on HIV/Aids. Zuma claimed he could see by the way a women dressed and sat that she was looking for sex and that he should oblige. Furthermore, he said that he thought having a shower after unprotected sex with an HIV positive partner would would help prevent infection. He has urged the police to shoot first and ask questions later to combat high crime levels. He is under fire from his own camp for flip-flopping on economic policy depending on the audience.

The fierce campaign to secure the presidency for Zuma and the equally stiff opposition to it has paralysed the ANC and the government in such a way that making Zuma president of South Africa will not end. Such is the enmity he evokes from those within the ANC who oppose him that his presidency is likely to be prone to log-jams, making it hard to execute policies which would benefit the country’s poor. Zuma has surrounded himself with hardline demagogues. This will make it difficult for him to bring in new talent — so necessary to energize the country — from across the color, ideological and political divides. Others fear Zuma will be held hostage by special interests and partisan factions from both the left and the right who have rallied around him.

South Africa is stuck in a number of interlocking crises: broken families, communities and society; high levels of poverty, unemployment and crime; perceptions of widespread corruption; increasing racial tensions; faltering democratic institutions; rapidly declining public confidence in government’s ability to deliver services; and looming economic problems.

The country must deal with these problems in an increasing complex, dangerous and economically treacherous world. The ANC and South Africa need a less divisive and more unifying leader, with fresh ideas, to give imaginative leadership to the country’s mountain of problems. Zuma is certainly not the answer.

William M. Gumede is Associate Editor at Africa Confidential. He is Research Fellow at the School of Public and Development Management, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg. He recently released the bestselling book Thabo Mbeki and the Battle for the Soul of the ANC. Close. Other articles by Mr. Gumede — Read Here