Former South African President Jacob Zuma banned from running in May elections

Jacob Zuma theoretically cannot seek re-election as he has already served two terms as president.

Johannesburg:

South Africa’s election officials said on Thursday they had excluded former President Jacob Zuma from May’s election, further fueling tensions ahead of the vote.

The country will hold a general election on May 29, which is expected to be the most hotly contested since the emergence of democracy in 1994.

The ruling African National Congress (ANC) is on the verge of falling below 50% of the vote for the first time since it came to power at the end of apartheid.

The party is losing support due to a weak economy and accusations of corruption and mismanagement.

Zuma, 81, was forced to step down in 2018 amid corruption accusations but still wields political clout.

He has been campaigning for the opposition UMkhonto we Sizwe (MK) party in an attempt to restart his career, calling members of his former party the ANC “traitors”.

“As far as former President Zuma is concerned, yes we did receive an objection but that objection has been upheld,” Electoral Commission chairman Mosoto Moppia told reporters, without giving details.

He added that “the party that nominated him has been informed” and that parties opposed to the move have also been informed.

The decision can be appealed until April 2.

MK spokesman Nhlamulo Ndlhela told AFP the party was “considering the merits of this objection but of course we will appeal”.

-“Intellectual Property Theft”-

The election commission’s decision is not MK’s only problem.

The ANC filed a new court application on Wednesday seeking to prevent MK from using its name, accusing it of intellectual property theft.

According to the ruling party, the name and logo of “umkhonto we Sizwe” are similar to those of the now-defunct ANC’s apartheid-era military wing, which could deceive or confuse voters.

The court ruling is expected to be announced in the coming days.

On Tuesday, a court dismissed the ANC’s initial complaint that MK’s registration was illegal, allowing the small radical party to contest the election.

The election will be tense, with the winner naming the president.

If the ANC gets less than 50% of the vote, it will force the party once led by Nelson Mandela to form a coalition to stay in power.

The latest opinion polls show that the African National Congress has a vote rate of just over 40%, the main opposition Democratic Alliance has a vote rate of about 27%, and the People’s Party has a vote rate of 13%.

The Electoral Commission said that under the constitution, “any person who has been convicted and sentenced to imprisonment for more than 12 months without a fine” cannot participate in the election.

Zuma was sentenced to 15 months in prison in June 2021 for refusing to testify to a panel investigating financial corruption and cronyism during his presidency.

After serving just two months in prison, he was released on medical parole.

But his imprisonment sparked protests, riots and looting, resulting in South Africa’s worst violence since the birth of democracy, with more than 350 people dead.

The Court of Appeal later ruled that Zuma’s release was unlawful and ordered him to return to prison.

But upon returning to the correctional centre, he immediately benefited from commutations for non-violent offenders approved by his main rival and successor, President Cyril Ramaphosa.

In addition to being found guilty of contempt of court in 2021, he faces corruption charges stemming from a weapons procurement scandal during his time as vice president in the 1990s.

Zuma is theoretically unable to seek re-election because he has already served two terms as president.

The final electoral list will be published in about two weeks.

The Electoral Commission has received 82 appeals related to candidates nominated by 21 political parties.

Zuma announced in December that he would run for the South African National Party, a blow to the ANC as he remains popular among Zulus.

The announcement of his exclusion came as John Steenhuisen, leader of South Africa’s largest opposition Democratic Alliance party, refused to rule out a post-election coalition deal with the ANC.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)