South African presidential election, 2008
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Thabo Mbeki
African National Congress
Kgalema Motlanthe
African National Congress
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.
In terms of party tradition, as the deputy president of the ANC, Zuma was in line to succeed Mbeki as president of the ANC, and, by implication, the President of South Africa in 2009. Zuma was elected as President of the ANC on 18 December 2007 with 2329 votes to Mbeki's 1505 votes, making him the clear favorite to become the next President of South Africa following the 2009 general election, since Mbeki was constitutionally unable to run again.
On 28 December 2007, the Scorpions served Zuma an indictment to stand trial in the High Court on various counts of racketeering, money laundering, corruption and fraud linked to the $5bn arms procurement deal by the South African government in 1999. The trial was to proceed on 4 August 2008. Zuma applied to the High Court to have the charges against him declared unlawful. Zuma's application was successful, and the ruling made inferences of political interference by Mbeki and others in Zuma's prosecution.
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