In today's Polokwane update, three larger-than-life figures feature prominently: Jacob Zuma is a “pop star to the poor” despite (because of?) the accusations that have been levied against him. Thabo Mbeki is “on a knife's edge” as he faces the very real prospect of losing power. And Winnie Madikizela Mandela, herself both a heroine to the poor and the source of more than a little controversy over the years, has tried to insert herself into the proceedings by proposing a deal in which Mbeki would maintain control of the ANC and would in turn promise both not to charge Zuma and to ensure that Zuma succeeds Mbaki as the country's president in 2009. Beyond the fact that it is difficult to determine what Mbeki would get from having Zuma, now clearly his tormenter, ascend to the presidency, it appears that Madikizela's plan does not pass constitutional muster. But give Winnie credit. She seems to have set the template for being the phoenix of South African politics, forcing herself into at least quasi-relevance by virtue of the force of her personality and her capacity to leverage her popularity, and Zuma seems to have inherited her blueprint.