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Mbeki calls for ANC unity, support
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POLOKWANE, South Africa (CNN) -- Appealing for unity and taking a jab at his political rival, South African President Thabo Mbeki made a last-ditch attempt on Sunday to rescue his political career as he addressed a conference of the governing party.
Thabo Mbeki, left, and his deputy, Jacob Zuma, right, at the opening of the ANC conference Sunday.
Around 4,000 African National Congress delegates were expected to vote late Sunday for their choice to head the party.
Mbeki, who is facing a leadership challenge from Jacob Zuma, the ANC's charismatic deputy president, made a nearly three-hour speech to delegates in which he acknowledged the splits in the party.
He also took a veiled swipe at Zuma, saying the ANC needed leadership "seized with ethical fervor."
Zuma was sacked by Mbeki as vice president in 2005 after his financial adviser was jailed for corruption.
The 65-year-old Zuma, who still faces the possibility of being charged himself, was also cleared of rape after a controversial trial. Even so, Zuma is widely expected to secure the nomination of the party members.
His populist approach has won him support among ANC rank and file, comparing favorably with Mbeki's style of leadership, which is seen by many party members as autocratic and aloof.
Zuma's growing status was very much in evidence as his supporters chanted their backing for him, pointedly refusing to join in the standing ovation that followed Mbeki's three-hour speech at the conference in the northeastern city of Polokwane.
Several close allies of the president, including Zuma's ex-wife Foreign Minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, were booed by Zuma's supporters.
At the close of Mbeki's speech, his rival's supporters chanted the challenger's controversial signature tune, the title of which translates from Zulu as "Bring me my machine gun."
Although Mbeki -- in charge since 1999 -- can stay on as president until his term finishes in 2009, analysts say it would be difficult for him to do so if he lost the backing of his party.
Opponents of Zuma warn that if he came to power he would pander to reactionary elements in South Africa.
"A Zuma presidency would turn South Africa into another near colonial basket case," said Mbeki biographer Mark Gevisser.
Analysts, however, say that no matter who wins the ANC leadership vote -- the result of which is expected in the coming days -- the biggest loser will be the party itself, which has been robbed of its moral authority because of the infighting.
Witnesses at the conference said the mood was somber and much less celebratory than at previous conferences.
"I think when one of those two candidates loses, the consequences could be ugly. They could be ugly on the conference floor and they could be ugly for South African politics in the aftermath of the conference," said Andrew Feinstein, a former ANC member of parliament. E-mail to a friend
CNN's Cecile Antonie and Robyn Curnow in Polokwane contributed to this report.
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