ANC needs to choose Mr Zuma's successor carefully

If, as expected, Mr Jacob Zuma steps down as president of the African National Congress (ANC) next week, he will hopefully set South Africa on a path to recovering some amount of the dignity that his presidency has eroded over the past few years.

Unfortunately, that journey to recovery will not begin immediately, because Mr Zuma will remain president of the country until elections in 2019 — a fact that is most likely annoying to South Africans who are proud of their country and who cherish the principle of integrity in leadership.

For the past eight years, and even before 2009 when he assumed the highest political office, Mr Zuma has been embroiled in scandal.

People who keep a watch on developments in South Africa will recall that, in 2005, Mr Zuma was slapped with almost 800 charges of corruption in relation to a multi-billion-dollar arms deal in 1999. The charges were dropped shortly before he became president. However, three months ago, South Africa's Supreme Court of Appeal upheld an earlier High Court decision reinstating the charges.