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By Jon Herskovitz
JOHANNESBURG, June 11 (Reuters) – South Africa’s ruling ANC
is braced for a major policy conference this month after the top
three international credit rating agencies said the party was
sending Africa’s largest economy down the wrong path.
The main concern of the African National Congress, in power
since apartheid ended in 1994, is a leadership struggle that now
looks set to be settled with President Jacob Zuma in position to
control the party and country for the rest of this decade.
This scenario worries economists who feel his ineffectual
leadership will allow problems to fester including a broken
education system, an overly rigid labour market and rampant
corruption, with risks mounting the longer he stays in power.
Meanwhile, the electric grid is operating on razor-thin
margins, raising the possibility of rolling blackouts that could
slow growth and cost the energy-hungry mining sector billions of
dollars in lost output.
THE ZUMA ROT
Zuma’s presidency has focused largely on an electoral
conference at the end of the year where the ANC selects its
leaders. If Zuma wins re-election as head of the party, he is
assured of being its nominee in the 2014 presidential race and
winning another five years in office.
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