SOUTH Africa's tough Communist Party boss is tipped for a top post in the first Zuma cabinet, as millions of South Africans went to polling stations across the country to vote in the most hotly contested election since the overthrow of apartheid 15 years ago.
Lefties Thulas Nxesi (left) and Blade Nzimande
Bonginkosi "Blade" Nzimande, a member of ANC leader Jacob Zuma's inner circle, is likely to get a key role in the new government in a move that would underline the centrality of the Communist Party in the power structure that is expected to emerge after yesterday's crucial election.
Mr Nzimande is likely to take his place in the cabinet alongside Winnie Madikizela-Mandela, who has been restored to a leadership role in the ANC after years of being sidelined.
At the same time, it was confirmed that the highly regarded Trevor Manuel, a fiscal conservative who is credited with keeping the South African economy on track and is widely admired by the investment community, will retain his post as finance minister, at least for the time being.
Mr Manuel had been keen to move on from the finance ministry, but is believed to have been persuaded to stay on to reassure investors worried about the impact of a presidency headed by Mr Zuma, a grassroots populist.
Speaking to reporters yesterday, Mr Manuel said: "The one thing I know ... and I have worked with Jacob Zuma for almost two decades ... the one thing I know is that he will draw on highly skilled individuals. He wants to succeed. He is not going to set himself up for failure."
As Mr Manuel sought to soothe apprehensions over Mr Zuma's election to office in Africa's most powerful nation, the main opposition leader, Helen Zille, leader of the white-led Democratic Alliance, stepped up her rhetoric against the ANC chief, drawing comparisons with Robert Mugabe's ascent to power in neighbouring Zimbabwe 30 years ago.
"Mugabe in the early 1980s started off exactly like Jacob Zuma ... the people loved him," she said.
"No-one wanted to hear a thing about Mugabe. He made promises and he lied to the people. He destroyed the opposition and then destroyed the constitution ... the independence of the judiciary, the independent media. He destroyed everything that was not ZANU-PF (his ruling party)," Ms Zille - who was desperate to deny Mr Zuma the two-thirds majority he wants - warned as the voters cast their ballots.
At his final appearance before the polling, Mr Zuma appeared relaxed. He amiably referred to reporters attending the media conference as "you guys", and laughed and joked when asked whether a cloud was still hanging over him about corruption. "There's no cloud - not even mist," he said.
Mr Zuma predicted there would be a massive turnout in favour of the ANC in the election, the results of which are not expected to be known before late tonight Australian time.
"We reiterate that we will use our majority responsibly, and will not ride roughshod over the rights of the people, or bulldoze other parties into submission," he said.
In the "freedom election" of 1994, the ANC won 66 per cent of the vote, and it got 66 per cent again in 1999. In the last general election in 2004, it received just under 70 per cent, and Mr Zuma is now known to want to get at least a two-thirds majority so he has the power to change the constitution. Anything less than 60 per cent would be regarded as a major defeat for the new leader.
Officials of the country's Independent Election Commission last night estimated that upwards of 80 per cent of the 23 million registered voters (out of a population of 50 million) would cast their ballots - even higher than in the historic 1994 election, when black South Africans were able to vote for the first time in their lives.
Voting in South Africa is not compulsory, but after years of being denied the vote, the right todo so is now a hallowed principle held dear by most of the population.
Even the venerable Archbishop Desmond Tutu decided to vote yesterday after initially saying that he would boycott the poll because of his opposition to Zuma.
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