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Article: Jacob Zuma defeats Thabo Mbeki to lead South Africa's governing African National Congress
- Article from:
- AP Worldstream
- Article date:
- December 18, 2007
- Author:
CopyrightCopyright 2007 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. (Hide copyright information)
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Jacob Zuma triumphed at the African National Congress Tuesday, parlaying his charisma and widespread popularity to win the governing party's top job and put him in line to become the country's next president.
His overwhelming win _ 2,329 votes to President Thabo Mbeki's 1,505 _ came despite rape and corruption scandals. Zuma was acquitted of rape last year, but still risks bribery charges in a multimillion-dollar arms deal. His supporters say he is innocent and that the scandals were part of a political smear campaign and should not prevent him from becoming ANC president.
Chaos and jubilation erupted as election officials announced the victory of Zuma _ a former guerrilla ...