Thabo Mbeki， 66， resigned yesterday as President of South Africa， after 10 years in power.Mbeki had recently lost an internal power struggle with his likely successor， Jacob Zuma， and the left-wing of the ruling ANC (African National Congress) party， who criticized him for his abandonment of socialist principles. Several of his government ministers threatened to resign in support of Mbeki. Ironically， his resignation came soon after perhaps his greatest foreign policy triumph; the negotiation of a peace deal and a unified government in neighbouring Zimbabwe.

66歲的南非總統(tǒng)姆貝基昨日辭職，結(jié)束了長達10年的任期。姆貝基在最近的一場內(nèi)部權(quán)利斗爭中敗給了有望接替他的雅各布#8226;祖馬及指責(zé)他不遵守社會主義原則的ANC左派人士（南非非洲人國民大會）。一批內(nèi)閣部長暗示將要辭職以支持姆貝基。具有諷刺意味的是，就當(dāng)姆貝基完成許是他最偉大的外交勝利——安排領(lǐng)國津巴布韋兩黨會面講和，說服兩黨共組聯(lián)合政府——之后，他便辭職了。

Mbeki always had a difficult field to hoe. His predecessor， the Nobel Prize winning Nelson Mandela， enjoyed a international reputation and massive respect from almost all South Africans.Years of apartheid had left South Africa sharply divided between a rich， educated white minority， many of whom still resented their loss of power， and a massive， poor， undereducated black majority.

姆貝基時常遇到棘手問題。獲得諾貝爾獎的前總統(tǒng)曼德拉在國際上享有崇高聲譽，受到幾乎所有南非人民的尊敬。多年的種族隔離制度使南非一分為二，形成少數(shù)富有、受到良好教育的白人與廣大貧窮、缺少文化教育的黑人的明顯界限，許多白人依然因失去權(quán)力而懷恨在心。

Mbeki courted controversy by publically backing crackpot conspiracy theories that HIV bore no connection with AIDS， as well as endorsing dubious AIDS \"therapies\" of no proven value. South Africa has one of the largest HIV infection rates in the world. Mbeki was also accused of failing to tackle South Africa's massive crime rates， with over 50 recorded murders per day.

姆貝基因公開支持瘋狂的陰謀論而遭爭議，這個理論指：HIV病毒和艾滋病之間沒有關(guān)系；贊同高風(fēng)險的艾滋療法沒有任何價值。南非乙肝感染率居世界之首。姆貝基還被指控沒能控制南非居高不下的犯罪率，記錄在案的謀殺案每天超過50件。

Mbeki's successor will be decided by the ANC soon.The frontrunner candidate is Jacob Zuma， the current party leader of the ANC. Strong concerns have been expressed by many as to Zuma's record， which includes accusations of corruption and a recent acquital on a rape charge. Zuma is also given to inflammatory racial rhetoric which worries white South Africans， and has pursued defamation charges against newspapers critical of his record.

接替姆貝基的人選將即刻由非國大決定。最熱門人選是非國大現(xiàn)任領(lǐng)袖雅各布#8226;祖馬。就祖馬的檔案很多人表示非常擔(dān)憂，包括腐敗指控及最近就強奸罪的無罪宣判。祖馬慣于發(fā)表偏激的種族言論，這使南非白人很是憂慮，他還以誹謗罪控告對其檔案進行攻擊的報社。