South Africa: Former President Jacob Zuma barred from next election

“In the case of former President Zuma, we received an objection that was accepted,” said the president of the commission, Mosoto Moepya, without specifying the reasons for the exclusion, which could still be subject to review. Call until April 2.

“The party that nominated him has been notified, as well as those who objected,” he continued.

South Africans are called to the polls in two months to renew a parliament that will then elect the next president. Jacob Zuma, 81, a former pillar of the African National Congress (ANC), the party in power for thirty years, created a surprise in December by announcing his support for the recently created small radical party Umkhonto We Sizwe (MK, spear of the nation in Zulu).

The announcement was a blow to the ANC, which according to polls is losing momentum after multiple corruption scandals and a bleak socio-economic landscape. He could lose his parliamentary majority for the first time and thus be forced to form a coalition government.

According to the latest polls, the ANC would win just over 40% of the vote in May, compared with some 27% for the main opposition Democratic Alliance (DA) and 13% for MK.

Read also: South Africa: Electoral Court allows Zuma’s MK party to participate in general elections

In the press release, the Election Commission simply reminded that according to the Constitution, “a person who has been convicted of a criminal offense and sentenced to a prison sentence of more than 12 months without the possibility of replacing the sentence with a fine”.

Still on trial in several corruption cases, Jacob Zuma, sentenced in 2021 to 15 months in prison for contempt of justice, theoretically cannot seek a new term, having already been president twice.

His imprisonment was followed by a wave of rioting and looting unprecedented in the country since the end of apartheid, which left more than 350 people dead.

The final election lists must be presented within two weeks.

The Commission received a total of 82 complaints against candidates proposed by 21 parties.