Tutu urges ANC not to elect Zuma

CAPE TOWN, South Africa, Dec. 15 (UPI) -- Former Archbishop Desmond Tutu of South Africa has urged the African National Congress not to choose Jacob Zuma as its new leader.

Tutu said many South Africans would ashamed to have Zuma, who was acquitted of rape last year, as their leader, the BBC reported Saturday.

"We're very worried that this leader had relations with a woman who regarded him as a parent," he told South Africa's Mail & Guardian newspaper.

He added that the nation deserves a better leader that Zuma, the former South African vice president.

"Although he is very likable, we have to ask ourselves: 'What is happening in the ANC?'" Tutu said. "I would like to see these issues being taken seriously and addressed."

Zuma responded by saying it ought to be "the business of the leaders of the church... (to) pray for people, not condemn them," the BBC reported.