Thabo Mvuyelwa Mbeki is a South African politician who was the second president of South Africa from 14 June 1999 to 24 September 2008, when he resigned at the request of his party, the African National Congress (ANC). Before that, he was deputy president under Nelson Mandela between 1994 and 1999.
Jacob Gedleyihlekisa Zuma is a South African politician who served as the fourth president of South Africa from 2009 to 2018. He is also referred to by his initials JZ and his clan name Msholozi. A former anti-apartheid activist and a member of Umkhonto we Sizwe, he was also the president of the African National Congress (ANC) between 2007 and 2017.
Nkosazana Clarice Dlamini-Zuma, sometimes referred to by her initials NDZ, is a South African politician, doctor and anti-apartheid activist, currently serving as Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs. She was South Africa's Minister of Health from 1994 to 1999, under President Nelson Mandela, Minister of Foreign Affairs, under both President Thabo Mbeki and President Kgalema Motlanthe, Minister of Home Affairs in the first term of former President Jacob Zuma and Minister in the Presidency for the National Planning Commission for Policy and Evaluation under President Cyril Ramaphosa.
The Schabir Shaik trial was an important court trial in post-apartheid South Africa. The case, tried in the Durban and Coast Local Division of the High Court before Judge Hilary Squires, proved the fraudulent and corrupt relationship between Durban-based businessman Schabir Shaik and former South African leader Jacob Zuma.
The Directorate of Special Operations (DSO), commonly known as the Scorpions, was a specialised unit of the National Prosecuting Authority of South Africa formed by President Thabo Mbeki, tasked with investigating and prosecuting high-level and priority crimes including organised crime and corruption. An independent and multidisciplinary unit with a unique methodology which combined investigation, forensic intelligence, and prosecution, the Scorpions were known as an elite unit, and were involved in several extremely high-profile investigations, especially into the Arms Deal and into high-ranking African National Congress (ANC) politicians including Jackie Selebi, Jacob Zuma, and Tony Yengeni.
The African National Congress Youth League (ANCYL) is the youth wing of the African National Congress (ANC). As set out in its constitution, the ANC Youth League is led by a National Executive Committee (NEC) and a National Working Committee (NWC).
Kgalema Petrus Motlanthe is a South African politician who was South Africa's third president between 25 September 2008 and 9 May 2009, following Thabo Mbeki’s resignation. Thereafter, he was deputy president under Jacob Zuma until 26 May 2014.
South Africa since 1994 transitioned from the system of apartheid to one of majority rule. The election of 1994 resulted in a change in government with the African National Congress (ANC) coming to power. The ANC retained power after subsequent elections in 1999, 2004, 2009, 2014, and 2019. Children born during this period are known as the born-free generation, and those aged eighteen or older, were able to vote for the first time in 2014.
General elections were held in South Africa on 22 April 2009 to elect members of the National Assembly and provincial legislatures. These were the fourth general elections held since the end of the apartheid era.
The 52nd National Conference of the African National Congress (ANC) was held in Polokwane, Limpopo, from 16 to 20 December 2007. At the conference, Jacob Zuma and his supporters were elected to the party's top leadership and National Executive Committee (NEC), dealing a significant defeat to national President Thabo Mbeki, who had sought a third term in the ANC presidency. The conference was a precursor to the general election of 2009, which the ANC was extremely likely to win and which did indeed lead to Zuma's ascension to the presidency of South Africa. Mbeki was prohibited from serving a third term as national President but, if re-elected ANC President, could likely have leveraged that office to select his successor.
The 51st National Conference of the African National Congress (ANC) was held at the University of Stellenbosch in Stellenbosch, Western Cape, from 16 to 20 December 2002, during the ANC's 90th anniversary. President Thabo Mbeki was re-elected to the party presidency and, notably, there was no change in other five top leadership positions except for Deputy Secretary General. There was also little competition for other spots on the National Executive Committee (NEC). This ANC conference has thus been called "the quietest in its history."
Samson Gwede Mantashe, popularly known as Gwede Mantashe, is a communist, South African politician, and trade unionist, who as of 18 December 2017, serves as the National Chairperson of the African National Congress. He is also a former chairperson of the South African Communist Party and Secretary General of the ANC. On the 26th of February 2018, during a cabinet reshuffle by president Cyril Ramaphosa, Mantashe was appointed Minister of Mineral Resources. In May 2019, he became Minister of Mineral Resources and Energy, when his earlier portfolio was merged with the energy portfolio.
The Strategic Defence Package, popularly known as the Arms Deal, was a major defence procurement programme undertaken to re-equip the South African armed forces for the post-apartheid era. It is commonly associated with the large-scale corruption that is alleged to have taken place during and after the procurement process. Some critics have said that the Arms Deal was a defining moment or turning point for the African National Congress (ANC) government, less than five years into its tenure.
Corruption in South Africa includes the improper use of public resources for private ends, including bribery and improper favouritism. The 2017 Transparency International Corruption Perceptions Index assigned South Africa a score of 43 out of 100, ranking South Africa 71 out of 180 countries; a high score and a low ranking signals that the country's public sector is perceived to be honest. There was a marginal improvement by 2021, when South Africa received a score of 44, ranking it 70 out of 180 countries. Nonetheless, this remains below its score of 45 in 2016. Countries with scores below 50 are believed to have serious corruption problems.
An indirect presidential election was held in South Africa on 25 September 2008 following the resignation of the President Thabo Mbeki. The ruling party, the African National Congress (ANC), with a two-thirds majority in the National Assembly of South Africa, elected Kgalema Motlanthe as president. The ANC indicated that Motlanthe would be a "caretaker" president until the 2009 election, after which ANC president Jacob Zuma would take office.
The Congress of the People (COPE) is a South African political party formed in 2008 by former members of the African National Congress (ANC). The party was founded by former ANC members Mosiuoa Lekota, Mbhazima Shilowa and Mluleki George to contest the 2009 general election. The party was announced following a national convention held in Sandton on 1 November 2008, and was founded at a congress held in Bloemfontein on 16 December 2008. The name echoes the 1955 Congress of the People at which the Freedom Charter was adopted by the ANC and other parties, a name strongly contested by the ANC in a legal move dismissed by the Pretoria High Court.
The Hawks are the South African Police Services' Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation (DPCI), which targets organised crime, economic crime, corruption, and other serious crime referred to it by the President or another division of the South African Police Service (SAPS). It was set up as the Scorpions by the Thabo Mbeki administration in 2001 but President Jacob Zuma replaced it with the Hawks as its succession in 2008, with much new associates.
The President's Keepers: Those Keeping Zuma in Power and out of Prison a 2017 book by Jacques Pauw, an investigative journalist from South Africa about allegedly corrupt and compromised power networks in the government of President Jacob Zuma.
Jacob Zuma, the former president of South Africa, is currently facing criminal charges relating to alleged corruption in the 1999 Arms Deal. He was first indicted on the charges in June 2005, but attempts to prosecute him have been beset by legal challenges and political controversy. He is currently charged with two counts of corruption, one count each of racketeering and money laundering, and twelve counts of fraud, all arising from his receipt of 783 payments which the state alleges were bribes from businessman Schabir Shaik and French arms company Thales.
The Enemy Within: How the ANC lost the battle against corruption (2022) is a book by Mpumelelo Mkhabela, a South African journalist and political analyst. The book is an account of how corruption entrenched its self within South Africa's governing party, the African National Congress (ANC) and the party's failed efforts to fight it.
