South Africa: Public support for new party prompts ANC disciplinary action against Jacob Zuma

The African National Congress (ANC), South Africa’s ruling party, has summoned former president Jacob Zuma to a disciplinary hearing next Tuesday for violating party rules, the National Disciplinary Committee (NDC) announced on Thursday.

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“Mr. Zuma was accused of breaching the ANC’s charter when he publicly endorsed the new uMkhonto we Sizwe (MK) party on 16 December 2023 and appeared on the MK party’s list of candidates declared the Committee in an opinion issued in a tense context ahead of the May 29 general election.

In December 2023, Zuma created his own party named after the former military wing of the African National Congress, urging South Africans not to vote for the ANC in the next general election. Following this development, the National Executive Committee (NEC) of the ANC decided to suspend the membership of the former president and place him in disciplinary proceedings.

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The general secretary of the party, Fikile Mbalula, emphasized that Mr. Zuma actively challenges the integrity of the ANC and is campaigning for his removal from power, claiming he has not ended his membership. “This behavior is irreconcilable with the spirit of organizational discipline and the charter of the ANC,” he said.

To counter Zuma’s threat ahead of the decisive election, the ANC used the courts to, firstly, oppose the registration of the new party and, secondly, demand that the name and logo be changed to “Umkhonto We Sizwe”, the name of the ANC’s armed wing during the apartheid era. .

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The ruling party also tried through the Election Commission to disqualify the former president from running after he was sentenced to 15 months in prison in 2021 for contempt of court. But Zuma has so far been able to win all these appeals before the courts.