As his rape trial ended, many South Africans wondered how their political system would recover from the rifts that Zuma's trials have exposed. A "Mail & Guardian" analysis saw these events as especially troubling:The political damage is incalculable, with the ruling African National Congress now an openly divided and faltering movement. This has had a domino effect on the South African Communist Party and the Congress of South African Trade Unions, which have floundered and fractured in the face of damaging charges against a man they ardently backed as the country's next president.The trial has been fought against the backdrop of a bitter succession war between Mbeki and Zuma. ... Mbeki's support in the ANC has crumbled, with the party faithful refusing to accept that he will anoint a leader... But even Zuma's most diehard supporters privately acknowledge that he cannot now be president, regardless of the trial outcome.Nonetheless, "Business Day"'s Karima Brown told "The Guardian" after the rape trial's verdict was handed down: Jacob Zuma is back. This poses a serious dilemma for the ANC leadership. Now Zuma is marching back into Luthuli House ANC party HQ. He will demand to be reinstated as deputy president and the others will find it difficult to block him … This is a major victory for Zuma's political career.The prospect of Zuma's return as a contender for the presidency caused concern for international investors. An Independent analyst suggested, "The fear of seeing Zuma and his crowd marching to the Union Buildings wielding machine guns is unnerving mostly to the middle class and businessmen, according to recent surveys."