Mbeki speech clouded by crime, ANC rifts

CAPE TOWN – South African President Thabo Mbeki is expected this week to outline a strategy to cut crime and poverty and prepare the nation to host the 2010 soccer World Cup in a speech overshadowed by a deep rift in his ruling party.

Mbeki’s speech to parliament on Friday has been preceded by a heightened debate over rampant crime, an issue which worries business leaders in Africa’s biggest economy. Mbeki, 64, is unlikely to announce sweeping programmes and is more likely to recommit his government to expanding public works projects and preparing for the World Cup.But this could be the most turbulent year since Mbeki took over from Nelson Mandela in 1999 and much of his time could be spent on the infighting in the ruling ANC.The African National Congress is being torn by rifts ahead of a December conference that will pick Mbeki’s successor as party leader, and likely next president.Although Mbeki can claim a number of successes – the economy remains buoyant, the treasury is expected to run a surplus and the black middle class is growing – he is dogged by some issues.Crime is often mentioned as Mbeki’s most glaring blindspot.Despite rising public alarm over high levels of murder and rape, Mbeki is seen as playing down the severity of the issue, prompting many to question whether he is willing or able to confront one of the country’s most pressing problems.A cover story in the influential Mail & Guardian newspaper suggested Mbeki was in denial about crime, just as he had been in his first term when he questioned the links between HIV and AIDS.The murder last month of historian and Zulu war expert David Rattray, a friend of Britain’s Prince Charles, has added to the pressure on Mbeki to address the fight against crime.Mbeki is also under pressure to deliver a better life to the legions of mostly black South Africans still on the margins of this economic powerhouse more than a decade after the end of white minority rule.Nampa-ReutersMbeki, 64, is unlikely to announce sweeping programmes and is more likely to recommit his government to expanding public works projects and preparing for the World Cup.But this could be the most turbulent year since Mbeki took over from Nelson Mandela in 1999 and much of his time could be spent on the infighting in the ruling ANC.The African National Congress is being torn by rifts ahead of a December conference that will pick Mbeki’s successor as party leader, and likely next president.Although Mbeki can claim a number of successes – the economy remains buoyant, the treasury is expected to run a surplus and the black middle class is growing – he is dogged by some issues.Crime is often mentioned as Mbeki’s most glaring blindspot.Despite rising public alarm over high levels of murder and rape, Mbeki is seen as playing down the severity of the issue, prompting many to question whether he is willing or able to confront one of the country’s most pressing problems.A cover story in the influential Mail & Guardian newspaper suggested Mbeki was in denial about crime, just as he had been in his first term when he questioned the links between HIV and AIDS.The murder last month of historian and Zulu war expert David Rattray, a friend of Britain’s Prince Charles, has added to the pressure on Mbeki to address the fight against crime.Mbeki is also under pressure to deliver a better life to the legions of mostly black South Africans still on the margins of this economic powerhouse more than a decade after the end of white minority rule.Nampa-Reuters