A spin-doctor's dream - in one week, Jacob Zuma has been voted the National Press Club's Newsmaker of the Year and his corruption case has been struck off the roll.

Legally this means the state can recharge him, but to Zuma's supporters it will, inaccurately, mean only one thing - "not guilty".

Celebrations will doubtless continue, laced with various renditions of Mshini wam ("bring me my machine gun"). That the symbolism inherent in the song is offensive and somewhat primitive appears irrelevant.

While Zuma's popularity has not been put to the ultimate test, for now, it seems as if the country is watching a rather unedifying "presidential campaign" with Zuma the solo candidate. Unedifying because the rape trial probably told us enough about Jacob Zuma the man to question whether he is fit to run for higher office. The witness stand was the one place where Zuma could not be shielded. Left to his own devices, the best he could muster was the opportunistic invocation of Zulu culture and the now infamous "shower" comment.

Outside of the glare of cross-examination, however, Zuma was able to employ his great mastery of the crowd. The politics of "bread and games", as the Romans called it. And so it will continue until, and if, others throw their hats into the ring.

Many point to the Zuma-inspired "populism", but there is a context to it, of course. While the Mbeki years have seen macro-economic stability, a focus on South Africa's place in the world and honest attempts to strengthen our democratic framework, they have not been without their shortcomings. Among other things, critics point to the so-called centralisation of power within the Presidency and the way in which government (and specifically Thabo Mbeki himself) has chosen to deal with the Aids pandemic.

The alliance partners, still reeling from the adoption of government's macro-economic policy in 1996, have been all but sidelined under Mbeki. So Zuma has in effect become the proxy for all the battles Cosatu and the South African Communist Party have wanted to pick with Mbeki.

As we look to a South Africa post-Mbeki, many questions arise.

While no one is ever able to assume the leadership mantle unblemished, for the ANC the question is what kind of organisation does it want to be - one moulded in the legacy of Luthuli, Tambo, Sisulu and Mandela or one symbolised by patronage and careerism?

For South Africans more broadly, the question is who the best presidential candidate is, in line with the values of the constitution.

Predictably, this week Zuma was welcomed at the Cosatu congress, to cries of "Zuma for President". Overnight, Zuma is being remade as the saviour of "left" politics.

In an unequal society like this one, any future president needs to have a clear stance on macro-economic policy. How are Zuma's positions on economic policy different to those of Mbeki, in whose cabinet he has served for all these years?

Tellingly, in recent days Zuma's "advisers" have gone to great lengths to say a Zuma presidency will not mean fiddling with economic fundamentals. So are not the key questions, then, what does Zuma have going for him, other than that he is not Mbeki; and politically what does he really stand for?

While an individual leader is important for setting the tone of governance, who that individual surrounds him/herself with will be crucial in providing collective leadership for the country. Zuma's "campaign" seems to have brought together a motley crew of supporters who presumably will have a deep hand in any Zuma presidency.

Think of the "Friends of Jacob Zuma" in a variety of incarnations, extracting their respective quid pro quos. Or perhaps not. Perhaps a "beholden" Zuma will be compelled to choose a cabinet to the left, right and centre of the political spectrum, to appease the "broad church" which is the tripartite alliance.

For it is hard to believe that there are not others setting up end-games of their own within and outside the party. For now, they probably choose to remain silent.

Narrow party politics aside, while the present political terrain provides a space for opportunists to hijack the political moment for self-seeking ends, it also curiously presents us with a rare moment of opportunity to fashion a new kind of politics which is less technocratic and more people-centred.

For these are days when, frighteningly and also encouragingly, we seem, again, at a confluence of possibilities.

No wonder Jacob Zuma is savouring the present. With his keen understanding of the political, he knows only too well that, despite the current lay of the land, the presidency is not yet in the bag.

February is Manager of Political Information and Monitoring at Idasa.

With acknowledgement to Judith February and Cape Times.