This is the first in a series of documents that set out the implications of a Zuma presidency for South Africa. We believe that the South African public have the right to know who the real Jacob Zuma is and the direction he is likely to take South Africa should he become the next President.

“…There is no Premier who is a Premier out of nowhere. They are all coming from the political party. They are answerable and accountable to the party, including the President and everybody else. The President of this country is the President of the ANC. No one person can be above the ANC. He can't be.”

Global rating agency Moody’s has recently warned that South Africa’s positive outlook with regard to its credit rating relied on the continuity of economic policy. Moody’s has noted that Jacob Zuma’s ousting of Thabo Mbeki had caused global investors to become sceptical about the country’s future. An analyst at Moody’s has been quoted as follows: “One of the factors most important for a rating is policy predictability, and you don’t have it with this political transition” (Isa, 2008). A change in South Africa’s credit rating would have significant implications for the cost of borrowing from capital markets.