By Enyichukwu Enemanna
The governing party in South Africa, the African National Congress (ANC), has expelled its former leader and the immediate past President of the country, Jacob Zuma, after he campaigned for an opposition party in the 29 May general election in which President Cyril Ramaphosa secured a second term, local media reports.
A disciplinary committee set up by the ANC to try him had found him guilty of “prejudicing the integrity” of the party he once led by joining uMkhonto we Sizwe (MK).
The governing party had also given Zuma three weeks to appeal against its ruling, local media quoted a leaked ANC document as saying.
The ANC has not officially confirmed his expulsion, while MK said Zuma had not been notified of the decision taken by a “kangaroo court”.
Zuma, 82, was a chieftain of the ANC until he fell out with the party after he was forced to quit as the country’s leader in 2018 over alleged corruption
Zuma has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing.
Heritage Times HT recalls that the party had in January expelled him after he formed the MK, which produced members of parliament in the last election who now sit at opposition in the ANC-led National Assembly.
In a statement, MK said it was shocked to learn from media reports that Zuma had been expelled.
The disciplinary proceedings were conducted “in a manner akin to a kangaroo court”, the party said.
“It is a foundational legal principle that no person, not even those accused of a serious crime, should be punished or sentenced in their absence,” it added.
The ANC’s disciplinary committee held a virtual hearing, which Zuma refused to attend, saying he wanted to be physically present.
In 2021 he was jailed for contempt of court after refusing to fully co-operate with an inquiry into corruption during his nine-year presidency.
