PRESIDENT-IN-WAITING Thabo Mbeki has told black business leaders a credible election on June 2 is critical to the economic growth that South Africa needs to wipe out the legacy of apartheid. “The matter of a free and fair election has become an important, indeed a strategic issue for this country,” he told members of the black Enterprise Development Forum late on Wednesday. Mbeki said a demonstrably free and fair election will silence sceptics who still expect South Africa to go the way of some African dictatorships. Mbeki said if the election turn violent or could be called unfair, potential investors who could help the country out of the shallow recession into which it has fallen will stay away. On Wednesday he said his government will launch a three-pronged assault on crime, boosting police resources, involving civilians in the struggle and eliminating corruption within the force.