JOHANNESBURG, Dec 13, 2007 (AFP) - Shrugging off scandals that would have sunk most politicians, South Africa's axed deputy president Jacob Zuma is wrapping up a seemingly unstoppable campaign for the reins of the ruling party.
Repeatedly declared a political corpse, the Zulu charmer has bounced back as frontrunner in the race for the African National Congress' top post -- despite inspiring an equal measure of adoration and loathing among party followers.
A high-profile rape trial pitted him against women, he sparked ire with anti-gay comments and ignorance about HIV earned him the wrath of AIDS activists, while links with a convicted fraudster raised concerns over his scruples.
But a darling of the poor and disenfranchised, Zuma has taken a resounding lead over party and national president Thabo Mbeki in nominations ahead of the party's elective conference starting this weekend, even getting the vote of the ANC Women's League (ANCWL).
"In Zuma we see ourselves, we see humility, down to earth. We see somebody we can speak to, who has a genuine love for people," Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) general secretary Zwelinzima Vavi said last week.
If elected party leader, 65-year-old Zuma will be in pole position to become head of state when Mbeki steps down in 2009.
Born in rural Inkandla in the KwaZulu-Natal province, Zuma grew up without formal schooling, the son of a domestic worker.
He joined the ANC in 1958 and was convicted of trying to overthrow the apartheid government five years later, serving 10 years on the Robben Island prison colony alongside Nelson Mandela.
He went into exile for 12 years in Mozambique, Swaziland and Zambia -- where he was the ANC's chief of intelligence.
Zuma returned to South Africa after the ANC was unbanned in 1990, and was key in talks with the then National Party regime that led to a negotiated national unity government.
Popularly known by his clan name Msholozi or simply JZ, he later become a provincial economic minister in KwaZulu-Natal before being elected deputy president of the country in 1999.
But he was fired in June 2005 after his financial adviser Schabir Shaik was jailed for canvassing bribes for Zuma, who now faces being recharged himself after losing a battle to declare a series of arrest warrants illegal.
Zuma's fiercely loyal supporters never wavered, claiming he is the victim of a political conspiracy.
Always quick to break into dance, he has become the centre of a popular culture partly built around his trade-mark song "Umshini Wami" (Bring me my machine gun).
Thousands chanted the song outside courtrooms country-wide during Zuma's appearances, wearing T-shirts with slogans like "100 percent Zulu boy".
Zuma has gained mass appeal off Mbeki's perceived inability to bond with the common man and his image as autocratic, high-brow and aloof.
"His (Mbeki's) stay in power is littered with all manner of political corpses -- with only one that refuses to die. With each and every stab, Zuma seems to rise from the dead," analyst Xolela Mangcu wrote in the Sunday Times.
Zuma was cleared of rape last year, but was ridiculed for testifying he took a shower after having had consensual sex with his HIV-positive accuser.
The acquittal did little to appease a middle-class thoroughly unnerved by the unknown realm of a Zuma presidency.
Also unconvinced was Nobel laureate Desmond Tutu, who recently urged the ANC not to elect a leader who would embarrass the party.
In typical fashion, Zuma has embarked on an international charm offensive, touring India, England and the United States to put investors' minds at ease.
"Nothing is going to change," he was quoted as telling businessmen concerned over his support from the unions and Communist party.
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