Don't panic, Zuma tells US

Washington - Jacob Zuma, widely expected to become South Africa's next president, met US government officials on Tuesday to assure them it was business in usual in Africa's biggest economy, despite recent political turmoil.

In his most high-profile foreign visit since becoming president of South Africa's ruling African National Congress in December, Zuma held talks with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and met briefly with President George W. Bush at the White House.

Zuma said one of the main aims of the visit was to improve commercial ties between the two countries. He said not enough had been done in the past to encourage inward investment from the United States, one of South Africa's key trading partners.

Some foreign investors are worried Zuma may bow to pressure from his communist and trade union allies to steer South Africa away from the pro-business policies of Thabo Mbeki.

Those fears intensified after the ANC, Cosatu and the South African Communist Party unveiled an economic blueprint at the weekend that called for greater government intervention in the economy to combat poverty.

In a speech to the Council on Foreign Relations in Washington, Zuma repeatedly emphasised that the ANC was a democratic organisation that took collective decisions and had played a major role in writing many of the checks and balances into the country's constitution.

No change

"So, there should be no worry. The situation is going to continue normally. In a sense I am saying: no panic, everything is fine in South Africa," said Zuma, who is also due to meet business leaders during his visit, which ends on Thursday.

"I have absolutely continued to say that I would change no policies if I became president. I have no authority to do so. That is in the hands of the ANC."

He did not refer to a weekend economic summit in which the ANC and its allies called for "decisive action" to change wealth distribution in South Africa, which has high unemployment and millions living in poverty.

However, Zuma stressed that the ruling party would not succumb to pressure from its trade union and communist allies and "move to socialism", saying he viewed them mainly as a "voice of the poor."

Warning that the economic turmoil sweeping the globe would slow South Africa's economic growth, Zuma said he was in the United States to push for greater US investment.

"Some of us believe we have not done sufficient in terms of the investment from here. We believe America, up to now, has not taken ... advantage of the open economy that we have," he said.

According to the US Census Bureau, the United States exported $4.2bn worth of goods to South Africa between January and August this year. Imports amounted to $7.2bn.

- Reuters