South African president battles through turbulent year

Johannesburg. After After weathering scandals that would have ended most political careers, South Africa’s President Jacob Zuma secured a resounding victory Thursday in a no-confidence vote against him in parliament.

The 214-126 result means Zuma has survived six votes of no-confidence since 2010 thanks to the ANC party’s large parliamentary majority. But the heated debate before the vote drew further attention to his mounting troubles after a year of setbacks and humiliating court rulings.

The multi-million dollar graft scandal stands out as one of the biggest blights on Zuma’s presidency after he was found to have benefitted from taxpayer-funded upgrades to Nkandla, his private rural homestead. A probe by the public watchdog revealed that the upgrades included a litany of non-security renovations, including a swimming pool and chicken coop. On March 31 this year, the scandal came to a dramatic climax when the Constitutional Court found the president guilty of violating his oath of office by refusing to pay back the money.

Defeated in court and facing mounting public criticism, he relented and paid $542,000 (500,000. A High Court ruling on June 24 dealt Zuma another heavy blow when it rejected his application to appeal against a decision to reinstate nearly 800 corruption charges that were dropped in 2009.

The 783 criminal charges relate to allegations of corruption, racketeering and money laundering over a multi-billion dollar arms procurement deal by the government in the late 1990s.

The dropping of the charges paved the way for him to become president of the ANC and, soon afterwards, to take power nationally following elections. (AFP)