From being almost written off as a politician just four years ago in the wake of rape and graft charges, Jacob Zuma's meteoric rise to the post of South African President marks an astonishing comeback
From being almost written off as a politician just four years ago in the wake of rape and graft charges, Jacob Zuma's meteoric rise to the post of South African President marks an astonishing comeback.
A Zulu tribesman, who dropped out of school after his father's death, herded goats to help his widowed mother make two ends meet and started working as a teenager, 67-year-old Zuma was today sworn in as the fourth democratically elected President of the country since apartheid ended in 1994.
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Zuma, who steered the ruling ANC to a landslide win in the April 22 polls, overcame the double charge of rape and graft and became hugely popular in the multi-racial country of 50 million people - also home to 1.5 million citizens of Indian-origin - with his pro-poor policies.
The corruption charges against the charismatic leader stemming from a controversial USD 5 billion French arms deal were dropped just weeks before the general elections, while he was acquitted of raping an HIV-positive family friend in 2006.
Zuma, who was born on April 12, 1942 in Inkandla in KwaZulu-Natal Province, had joined the ANC during the former apartheid regime at the age of 17. He was convicted of conspiring to overthrow the apartheid government and imprisoned for 10 years on the Robben Island, alongside anti-apartheid icon Nelson Mandela.
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