it's your party, you can resign if you want to

Holy moly, guys! Things in South Africa have been a little exciting this week. President Thabo Mbeki resigned last weekend. Shortly after, half the cabinet also resigned, including finance minister Trevor Manuel, who later clarified that he'd be ever so willing to come back and work for the new administration if life got too scary without him.
Two days ago, President Kgalema Motlanthe, a man most often described by South Africans (those few who know who he is) as "a really nice guy," is sworn in as acting president. It is generally assumed that Jacob Zuma, who would take quite a lot of space to explain, but who is best described as "Mbeki's political rival who has successfully, so far, fought both rape and corruption charges" will take over next year after the April elections.

We've been watching a lot of TV in the newsroom, as there have been quite a few speeches, press conferences, and other televised political events to gawk at. You'd think this would make an intern's life more interesting, but really it just makes it impossible to cover anything involving a government department. "Can I please speak with the minister's spokesperson about this very unpolitical energy issue?" "Sorry, that minister is no longer the minister, call back tomorrow."

There's still a great deal of uncertainty about what will come of the whole deal. I've heard concern about whether the ANC will split, and some of Zuma's supporters have made fairly visceral threats on his behalf. Time will tell. I'm not sure the word "crisis" is in order yet to describe the state of the government, but I also haven't been here long enough to grasp every angle of South African politics.

The one thing I *can* be opinionated about is the dismissal of Health Minister Manto Tshbalala-Msimang. Ms. Tshbalala-Msimang is notorious for her suggestion that HIV-positive South Africans eat "beetroot, lemon and garlic" to prevent progression to AIDS. She has been given another ministry to run, as minister of the Presidency, but at least her removal signals a possible end to the AIDS denialism that has been a hallmark of Mbeki's presdency.