Jacob Zuma: Portrait of a President Stamp issue date: 10 November 2009 “I commit myself to the service of our nation with dedication, commitment, discipline, integrity, hard work and passion.” These words were spoken by President Jacob Zuma on 9 May 2009 when he was inaugurated as South Africa’s fourth democratically elected president. To commemorate this event, the South African Post Office will issue a special stamp and commemorative cover on 10 November 2009. On 18 December 2007, Jacob Zuma became President of the ANC in the elective conference in Polokwane, Limpopo. He subsequently led the party to victory in the April 2009 elections. On 9 May 2009, he was sworn in as South Africa’s new president during a colourful ceremony at the Union Buildings in Pretoria. Prominent foreign dignitaries from around the globe, as well as thousands of supporters attended the event. Jacob Gedleyihlekisa Zuma was born on 12 April 1942 in Inkandla, KwaZulu-Natal Province. President Zuma’s circumstances prevented him from receiving any formal schooling. Influenced by a trade unionist family member, he became involved in politics at an early age and joined the ANC in 1959. He became an active member of Umkhonto We Sizwe in 1962, following the banning of the ANC in 1960. While on his way out of the country in 1963, he was arrested with a group of 45 recruits and convicted of conspiring to overthrow the government. He was sentenced to 10 years’ imprisonment, which he served on Robben Island. After his release, Jacob Zuma helped mobilise internal resistance and was instrumental in the re-establishment of ANC underground structures in the then Natal province (now KwaZulu-Natal) between 1973 and 1975. In 1975, Jacob Zuma left the country to work for the ANC, first in Swaziland and later in Mozambique. For the next 12 years, he dealt with thousands of young exiles who poured out of South Africa in the wake of the Soweto uprising. He rapidly rose through the ranks to become a member of the ANC National Executive Committee in 1977. He also served as Deputy Chief Representative of the ANC in Mozambique, a post he occupied until the signing of the Nkomati Accord between the Mozambican and South African governments in 1984. He was subsequently appointed as Chief Representative of the ANC. As one of a few who remained in Mozambique, he carried out the work of the organisation, crossing in and out of South Africa on several occasions. In 1987, he moved to the ANC Head Office in Lusaka, Zambia, where he was appointed Head of Underground Structures and shortly thereafter Chief of the Intelligence Department. In 1990, he was elected Chairperson of the Southern Natal region and took a leading role in fighting violence in the region. This resulted in a number of Peace Accords involving the ANC and the Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP). In 1991, at the first ANC National Conference held in South Africa after the unbanning of the organisation, he was elected Deputy Secretary General of the ANC. After the first national democratic elections in South Africa in 1994, Jacob Zuma was appointed as Member of the Executive Committee (MEC) of Economic Affairs and Tourism for the KwaZulu-Natal provincial government. In December 1994, Jacob Zuma was elected National Chairperson of the ANC, as well as chairperson of the ANC in KZN. He was re-elected to the latter position in 1996. In December 1997, he was elected Deputy President of the ANC at the National Conference held in Mafikeng. In June 1999, Jacob Zuma was appointed Executive Deputy President of South Africa.
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