Big question:

More than a decade after the apartheid era ended in South Africa, one key feature of a working democracy has yet to be tested: the ability of elected leaders to accept defeat gracefully and hand over power to their political rivals. Earlier this month, though, the populist Jacob Zuma handily beat incumbent President Thabo Mbeki in the contest to lead the ruling African National Congress party.

This challenge to Mbeki’s leadership is a sign of healthy politics, especially on a continent dominated by self-appointed strongmen who hold onto their offices at all costs. But Zuma’s emergence would be more reassuring if his own history were less troublesome.

Zuma has met with foreign investors, presumably to reassure them that he doesn’t intend to be the South African version of neo-socialist Hugo Chavez. He also needs to make it clear that he would spend public money to help the citizenry rather than to enrich government officials. Zuma, alas, isn’t the most obvious protector of the public purse.

But South African leaders have surprised critics before. Nelson Mandela, once regarded in some quarters as a dangerous radical, turned out to be a statesman. Zuma’s big test will come if he is elected president. Will he nurture a hard-won democratic system? And when his time is up, will he leave? — The Boston Globe