The leadership situation in South Africa is a mess: President Thabo Mbeki has been forced from office and Jacob Zuma, a rabble-rouser who has been accused of, inter alia, rape and corruption is poised to take over now that he has become the leader of the African National Congress. But many of Mbeki’s supporters object, and they are now talking of forming their own party.

I have no idea if this will happen, but if it does and the new party is credible, that is the best possible outcome. As long as the ANC remains as dominant as it is today there are not enough checks and balances within the otherwise democratic political system. All disputes are settled within the ANC ranks and discipline is enforced on dissenters. Thus Mbeki faced precious little pressure to reverse two of his more hare-brained policies—refusing to force Robert Mugabe out of power in Zimbabwe and refusing to take seriously the threat from AIDS. If a credible new party with a large black membership emerges, that will make South Africa—already one of the freest countries on the continent—a more durable and vigorous democracy.