South Africa’s Supreme Court on Monday barred former President Jacob Zuma from voting in the upcoming election, a ruling that could deepen political turmoil in the country a week before the crucial vote.
The Constitutional Court overturned a previous ruling by the Special Electoral Court, ruling that Mr Zuma could not stand as a candidate in the May 29 election because of his past criminal convictions.
Mr Zuma, a former president of the African National Congress party, resigned from the presidency in 2018 amid widespread protests. Three years later he was convicted and sentenced for failing to appear at a corruption investigation.
Mr Zuma’s attempt to make a political comeback poses a huge test for South Africa’s fledgling democracy.
After his arrest in July 2021, he became the first former president to serve a prison sentence in post-apartheid South Africa, although he was granted medical parole just two months into his 15-month sentence. The Constitutional Court later overturned his medical parole, but Mr Zuma was later granted a presidential pardon by his successor, political rival Mr Ramaphosa.
The court’s decision depends on the length of Mr Zuma’s sentence. The court ruled that while he received a commutation and reduced time served, he was sentenced to 15 months in prison, which made him ineligible to run.
Under South African law, people who have been convicted and sentenced to more than 12 months in prison are not allowed to serve in the National Assembly.
“Mr Zuma was found guilty and sentenced to more than 12 months in prison,” Judge Leona Theron said.
The judge added that Mr Zuma was “eligible and ineligible” to run in the election only five years after his release from prison.
Zuma, 82, had been hoping to run for leadership of UMkhonto weSizwe, an emerging party formed to challenge the African National Congress, which has ruled the country since the end of apartheid three decades ago .
Mr Zuma’s decision to lead and campaign for the opposition party has profoundly disrupted South Africa’s political landscape. Founded in December, uMkhonto weSizwe, or MK, quickly became one of the most high-profile opposition groups in an election that saw a record 52 parties vie for votes in the national vote. new highs.
South Africans vote for a party rather than an individual, but MK appears to be relying on the appeal of familiar faces to attract voters: Mr Zuma’s picture is plastered across its campaign posters and T-shirts.
Although Mr Zuma resigned as president in 2018, he remains a popular figure in South African politics, with his populist rhetoric resonating with voters disaffected by the ANC.
