So you want to throw President Thabo Mbeki out? Have you considered whether or not a successor will solve the key issues that have come to plague the dying months of Mbeki’s rule?
Let’s go through them one-by-one.

ECONOMY:
What did Mbeki do? Mbeki oversaw a fundamental reversal of South Africa’s economic woes from his time as deputy to Nelson Mandela through to the present. High debt servicing, high consumption expenditure and poor revenue collection have all been turned around to make South Africa pretty much a model of prudent fiscal management. The appointment of Trevor Manuel as Finance Minister was a masterstroke which has built business confidence and enabled the ANC to introduce substantial welfare expenditure while retaining credibility as a well-managed economy. Mbeki has identified, but failed to act on, weaknesses in the Gear policy such as the rigid labour market which has been an obstacle to job creation. And he has backtracked on privatisation, the key to introducing the sorts of efficiencies into the economy which would have eliminated infrastructure backlogs such as those responsible for inadequate power generation.
What would Zuma do? Zuma does not possess the sort of depth of thinking on the economy of an Mbeki. He has made contradictory noises, suggesting a more leftward direction, but also reassuring business. The reason that he finds himself in this dilemma is that he is beholden to the left kingmakers who propelled him to the ANC presidency - the SACP and Cosatu. He is likely to oversee a muddying of thinking on the economy, possibly including an even more disasterous labour relations regime and a loosening of social spending in an effort to appease these backers. His presidency could well see the departure of Manuel and other key technocrats in the treasury who are already ambivalent about the statist drift in policy emanating from the likes of Alec Erwin in the Public Enterprises ministry.

ELECTRICITY:
What did Mbeki do? Mbeki’s successes on the economy were his downfall on electricity - and possibly on other infrastructural issues. Economic growth outstripped expectations. But, despite this, Mbeki was warned of the looming electricity crisis and he failed to act, something for which he has publicly apologised. This failing points to Mbeki’s unwillingness to accept advice at face value or, worse, his decision to ignore advice and tough it out knowing a crisis would occur. Mbeki also failed to take advice to introduce competitive private sector involvement into the electricity distribution network.
What would Zuma do? Zuma could be more open to advice and might listen to warnings more openly than Mbeki. But will he be decisive enough to drive through big spending decisions? And will he have the wherewithal in his treasury department and in the state to execute such decisions efficiently? The prospect of privatisation relating to infrastructure will recede sharply under Zuma who is likely to take a more statist stance than Mbeki.

ZIMBABWE:
What did Mbeki do? Mbeki has been very actively involved in attempting to resolve the Zimbabwean crisis. He has chosen to do so by maintaining a close relationship with Robert Mugabe while following a “quiet diplomacy” approach. The results have been mixed: He has cajoled Mugabe into conducting elections, which Mugabe lost, under SADC guidelines, but he has also lost credibility with the opposition for failing to speak out against Mugabe’s abuses. Mbeki has allowed Mugabe to manipulate public perceptions by projecting Mbeki as an ally rather than as a mediator. The overall result has been a loss of credibility for Mbeki who is seen as a weak supporter of Mugabe. And the Zimbabwean crisis has lingered.
What would Zuma do? Zuma has spoken out on electoral abuses such as the unseemly delay in announcing the results, but he has failed to map out an alternative approach to the crisis. His left allies - the kingmakers - are vocally opposed to Mugabe and will expect Zuma to act decisively. But Zuma will be painfully aware that this will limit his influence. Perhaps he will make the classic calculation that the way foreign policy plays at home is more important than the way it plays abroad and weigh in against Mugabe.

AIDS:
What did Mbeki do? After a slow and very costly start, Mbeki has come around to distributing Aids drugs through the public health service. But he has failed to ignite a popular fight against the disease and there are too many ambiguous messages from the top on what its causes are and how it should be handled.
What would Zuma do? Zuma will be much better at getting the message across to the public. He is outspoken on Aids and will seriously amp up the public message on this issue. He would probably allocate more funds to ARVs, but will rely on the same public service to distribute them, probably with the same less-than-satisfactory result.