Scandal-plagued Jacob Zuma under pressure from deputy Kgalema Motlanthe

ADVERSARIES are closing in on controversial South African President Jacob Zuma to deny him a second term in office.

AS power struggles in democracies go, it would be hard to beat the intrigue and political infighting as adversaries close in on controversial South African President Jacob Zuma to deny him a second term in office.

Mr Zuma's job is on the line, as is the direction of one of the world's most successful liberation movements, the African National Congress, the party of Nelson Mandela that has ruled almost unchallenged since the defeat of apartheid 17 years ago.

Mr Zuma is no Mandela. An unabashed polygamist, he has been at the centre of a string of scandals, most recently when he fathered a child with the daughter of old friends. Now, powerful elements within the ANC coalesced around deputy president Kgalema Motlanthe have, it seems, concluded Mr Zuma shouldn't be given a second term when the party meets later this year to elect its leader and, thereby, its candidate for the presidential election.

It is the weirdest of political standoffs, neither Mr Zuma nor Mr Motlanthe has declared themselves candidates but the South African media is in full cry, insisting the President is being targeted by his deputy.

As Mr Motlanthe has emerged as a credible alternative to Mr Zuma, so, too, have scurrilous stories emerged about the involvement of his attractive young girlfriend in an alleged $300 million sanctions-busting deal with Iran. Mr Motlanthe was embarrassed when the Sunday Times claimed attempts were made to solicit a bribe to secure government support for the deal.

If Zuma supporters thought the allegations would score a king hit, they were wrong. Mr Zuma has his own problems, with the country's Supreme Court ruling that a decision to conveniently drop corruption proceedings against him just before he won office can be challenged in a judicial review, something that could spell trouble ahead for the incumbent.

The ruling could not have come at a worse time, with widespread violence in black townships over his government's failure to deliver on its promises and even a resurgence of horrifying necklace killings with burning rubber tyres, a feature of black protests against apartheid.

ANC treasurer-general Mathews Phosa has warned of an Arab Spring-style uprising if the government fails to tackle soaring youth unemployment. Mr Phosa said: "If we don't draw lessons (from the Arab Spring), we are making a big mistake."

In similar vein, Mzukisi Qobo, a senior political scientist, has warned that the ANC's options are stark: modernise or perish. "The party lacks a defining theme for governance and a coherent story about what South Africa could become as a nation," he has said, adding "the ANC needs to reflect deeply on the kind of leaders it elects."

As the contest is joined, those seeking to deny Mr Zuma a second term make little attempt to disguise their scorn for the cattle herdsman turned President. It would be wrong, however, to dismiss Mr Zuma as doomed. A ruthless and courageous head of the ANC's intelligence services during the war against white rule, he enjoys considerable popular support, especially within his own powerful Zulu tribe. As President, he has operated effectively on the international stage and is certainly not the klutz his adversaries try to make him out to be.

But he has made some formidable enemies and is gaining more as he is perceived to be moving against freedom of expression and an independent judiciary, key elements of the constitution of the new South Africa.

The ANC looks vulnerable for the first time. All the verities of the past 17 years about the successful rainbow nation face mounting challenges.