S/Africa opposition leader in controversy over Zuma

S/Africa opposition leader in controversy over Zuma
Written by chama
Thursday, May 14, 2009 4:01:07 PM

CAPE TOWN (Reuters) - South Africa's main opposition leader has angered supporters of Jacob Zuma by describing the new president as a womanising sexist, with some of his allies threatening to take strong action. The comments by Democratic Alliance leader Helen Zille have dampened the mood in the country after Zuma's inauguration on May 9 as South Africa's fourth democratically elected president.

Former guerrilla fighters loyal to Zuma have threatened to make the Western Cape province -- the only region in the country controlled by the DA -- "ungovernable" while the powerful COSATU trade union federation threatened strike action.

Zuma's African National Congress said the comments made by Zille in a letter to a newspaper were "reprehensible" and showed she was out of touch with the mood of South Africa.

In the letter, Zille described Zuma as a "self-confessed womaniser with deeply sexist views, who put all his wives at risk by having unprotected sex with an HIV-positive woman".

Zuma was acquitted of rape in 2006 and also beat corruption charges when prosecutors dropped the case after eight years of investigation.

Zille wrote the letter in response to criticism that she herself was sexist after unveiling a male-dominated cabinet to serve in the Western Cape, where she is premier.

Her spokesman, Fritz de Klerk, said Zille would not apologise for writing the letter.

Veterans of Umkhonto we Sizwe (MK), the ANC's military wing under apartheid, described Zille's comments as racist.

"Should Helen Zille not refrain from this anti-African and racist behaviour, we are not going to hesitate, but craft and launch a political programme aimed at rendering the Western Cape ungovernable," MK Military Veteran's Association chairman Kebby Maphatsoe was quoted as saying by the SAPA news agency.

Zuma has moved quickly to allay investor fears in Africa's top economy, saying prudent economic policy would continue, but many South Africans regard him warily because they perceive him as a flawed character.

It is unclear if the slanging match between Zille and Zuma's allies will dampen his initial enthusiasm to reach out to opposition parties, in marked contrast to his predecessor Thabo Mbeki, who enjoyed a frosty and at times hostile relationship with the opposition.

"It seems that the rapprochement only lasted a day and then the polemics went back to normal again," said Keith Gottschalk, a political analyst at the University of the Western Cape.