May 24 – Former South African President Jacob Zuma is ineligible to run for parliament in next week’s general election, the country’s Constitutional Court has ruled citing his 15-month prison sentence for contempt of court as a disqualifying factor.
Zuma, who was convicted in 2021 for refusing to testify at an inquiry into corruption during his presidency (2009-2018), had been campaigning under the newly formed uMkhonto weSizwe (MK) party after falling out with the governing African National Congress (ANC).
MK Secretary-General Sihle Ngubane expressed disappointment with the ruling but stated that it would not hinder the party’s campaign for the May 29 election. “He is still the leader of the party. It [the ruling] doesn’t affect our campaign at all,” he said.
South Africans vote for political parties, and candidates at the top of the party lists are allocated parliamentary seats based on the number of votes each party receives. The electoral commission confirmed that Zuma’s name would be removed from MK’s list of parliamentary candidates, although his image will remain on the ballot papers alongside the party’s logo.
MK members demonstrated outside the court, portraying Zuma as a victim, while those inside – some dressed in traditional Zulu attire – sat silently as Justice Leona Theron delivered the unanimous judgment. Zuma has yet to comment on the ruling.
Following Zuma’s imprisonment in 2021, his supporters rioted, and some leaders threatened violence if he were disqualified from running for parliament. However, MK officials have since moderated their rhetoric, focusing instead on winning a two-thirds majority to amend the constitution and potentially restore Zuma to power.
Zuma’s lawyers argued that his early release after three months in prison by his successor, President Cyril Ramaphosa, nullified the remainder of his sentence. The court disagreed, stating that the time he spent in prison was irrelevant. South Africa’s constitution bars anyone sentenced to 12 months or more in prison, without the option of a fine, from serving in parliament to protect the integrity of the “democratic regime” established after apartheid in 1994, Justice Theron explained.
President Ramaphosa, speaking to local radio station 702, said he “noted” the ruling. “The court has ruled, and as I have often said, that is the highest court in the land and we have given the judiciary the right to arbitrate disputes amongst us in terms of our constitution,” he remarked.
Political analyst Levy Ndou told the BBC that the ruling has the “potential to test his [Zuma’s] character – whether he joined the party for selfish reasons or to take South Africans forward.” Ndou added that MK’s electoral prospects could be weakened if its support base is loyal to Zuma alone, but if members genuinely believe in the party’s cause, they will need to focus their efforts without him.
MK has experienced internal conflicts since last month, with Zuma ousting its founding leader, Jabulani Khumalo, to take the helm. Zuma insists he remains the party leader.
President Ramaphosa ousted Zuma in 2018 after a fierce power struggle and is leading the ANC’s campaign to extend its 30-year rule. Zuma’s removal was welcomed by many South Africans due to the widespread allegations of corruption during his nine-year tenure, which he has always denied.
Last December, Zuma declared he could never vote for a party led by Ramaphosa and has spearheaded MK’s campaign. This will be the first election contested by MK since its registration as a party last September. The party’s emergence raises the possibility that the ANC could lose its parliamentary majority for the first time in 30 years.
MK’s support is concentrated in Zuma’s home province of KwaZulu-Natal and the economic hub of Gauteng, the two provinces with the highest number of registered voters and key battlegrounds in the election. South Africans will be voting for the national parliament and nine provincial legislatures, with the president elected by the new parliament and each legislature electing a provincial premier.
The court’s ruling bars Zuma from taking up a seat in parliament or any provincial legislatures. An Ipsos opinion poll released last month gave MK 8% of the vote and the ANC 40%, although the governing party has intensified its campaign in recent weeks and could still cross the 50% threshold. The ANC secured 57.5% of the vote in the 2019 election.
Former President Thabo Mbeki, who remains popular among many voters, recently joined the ANC’s campaign in KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng, denouncing Zuma as a “wolf in sheep’s clothing” and a “counter-revolutionary.”
uMkhonto we Sizwe, which translates as “Spear of the Nation,” is the original name of the ANC’s armed wing that fought against apartheid.