Johannesburg — SA COULD face mounting pressure to vote against the US nomination of Paul Wolfowitz - one of the chief architects of the Iraq war - to head the World Bank.

Analysts yesterday panned US President George Bush's "horrifying" choice, saying this could have dire implications for Africa, which relies on more than R100bn from the bank each year.

The World Bank's 24-member board has yet to vote on Wolfowitz. SA is part of the African bloc which holds a marginal 3,39% of the votes, but Finance Minister Trevor Manuel, who chairs the bank's development committee, has become an important voice at the world body.

Bush is said to have earlier told certain leaders - including President Thabo Mbeki - of his selection, but Germany said the news was "devastating", while France and the UK refused to endorse Wolfowitz "at this stage".

Wolfowitz's neoconservatist stance is expected to see the bank push US policies while tightening its lending policies. Furthermore, his role in the US invasion of Iraq could erode his credibility.

Independent political analyst Nic Borain said yesterday that the head of the World Bank was supposed to be a unifying leader.

The Congress of South African Trade Unions said that it was "shocked" at the nomination of "such a conservative ... into a position which ought to be advancing the interests of the poor".

The University of the Witwatersrand's Prof John Stremlau said the public reaction underestimated "an accomplished operator".