President Thabo Mbeki and Jacob Zuma, leader of the ruling African National Congress, have denied that they are enemies and that Mbeki will step down early.
Mbeki, beaten by Zuma in the African National Congress leadership race in December, and Zuma said the ANC did not have two rival factions in a joint letter that was published in City Press newspaper on Sunday.
”Neither of us holds opposing political positions. Neither of us are involved in a struggle to build a personal support base in the ANC …,” the letter said.
”There is no Zuma camp in the ANC. There is no Mbeki camp in the ANC. Nobody, including members of the ANC and the media, should use our names to pursue divisive goals that have nothing to do with the truth”.
Mbeki has seen his power and prestige shrink since losing the ruling party leadership to Zuma. Critics say he failed to contain a wave of xenophobic violence which killed 62 people and forced at least 100 000 African immigrants to flee.
The violence came after criticism of his handling of South Africa’s power crisis and prompted the South African Communist Party to say Mbeki had failed to provide leadership and should be removed as president.
The two leaders said in the letter that Mbeki would serve out his final term as president which ends in April 2009.
Zuma will almost certainly take over as South Africa’s president next year, if he manages to beat corruption charges.
Zuma is accused of accepting hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes from French arms manufacturer Thint. He has denied the charges and said he will step down from his position if convicted.
Last month, a defence lawyer said Zuma’s corruption case would not begin on August 4 as previously scheduled, saying there were other matters that had to be dealt with first. – Reuters 2008