In April this year, South Africans for the third time overwhelmingly re-elected the ruling African National Congress, now led by President Thabo Mbeki. Not surprisingly, the elections lacked the euphoria that marked the formal end of apartheid, led by Nelson Mandela, a decade ago. What’s more, the victory of the ANC may be dimmed by its own policy mistakes and the stubborn legacy of apartheid, an albatross that holds the young democracy in a death choke.