South Africa: ex-president Jacob Zuma excluded from next elections

“In the case of former President Zuma, we received an objection which was upheld,” said commission chairman Mosotho Moepya, without specifying the reasons for the exclusion which can still be appealed by April 2.

“The party which nominated him was informed, as were those who raised the objection”he continued.

South Africans are called to the polls in two months to renew a Parliament which will then choose the next president. Jacob Zuma, 81, 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 small radical party Umkhonto We Sizwe (MK, spear of the nation in Zulu) recently created.

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

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

In a press release, the electoral commission simply recalled that according to the Constitution, a “person convicted of an offense and sentenced to a prison sentence of more than 12 months without the possibility of replacing the sentence with a fine “.

Still prosecuted in several corruption cases, Jacob Zuma, sentenced in 2021 to 15 months in prison for contempt of justice, cannot theoretically seek a new mandate, having already served two as president.

His incarceration was followed by a wave of riots and looting unprecedented in the country since the end of apartheid, leaving more than 350 dead.

The final electoral lists must be presented within a fortnight.

In total, 82 appeals were received by the commission concerning candidates nominated by 21 parties.

South Africa: ex-president Jacob Zuma excluded from next elections

Former president Jacob Zuma (2009-2018) is excluded from the general elections scheduled in South Africa on May 29, the electoral commission announced Thursday at a press conference.

“In the case of former President Zuma, we received an objection which was upheld,” said commission chairman Mosotho Moepya, without specifying the reasons for the exclusion which can still be appealed by April 2.

“The party which nominated him was informed, as were those who raised the objection”he continued.

South Africans are called to the polls in two months to renew a Parliament which will then choose the next president. Jacob Zuma, 81, 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 small radical party Umkhonto We Sizwe (MK, spear of the nation in Zulu) recently created.

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

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

In a press release, the electoral commission simply recalled that according to the Constitution, a “person convicted of an offense and sentenced to a prison sentence of more than 12 months without the possibility of replacing the sentence with a fine “.

Still prosecuted in several corruption cases, Jacob Zuma, sentenced in 2021 to 15 months in prison for contempt of justice, cannot theoretically seek a new mandate, having already served two as president.

His incarceration was followed by a wave of riots and looting unprecedented in the country since the end of apartheid, leaving more than 350 dead.

The final electoral lists must be presented within a fortnight.

In total, 82 appeals were received by the commission concerning candidates nominated by 21 parties.

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