By Lucy Adautin
On Monday, South Africa’s highest court ruled that Jacob Zuma, a former president tainted by graft and now a fiery opposition contender, is ineligible to run for Parliament in the upcoming general election.
This decision is likely to infuriate Zuma’s supporters and raise concerns about potential violent unrest leading up to the highly competitive May 29 poll, the most contested since the dawn of post-apartheid democracy in 1994.
The top court dismissed Zuma’s challenge against an electoral commission decision, citing a previous conviction for contempt that disqualifies him from becoming an MP. The constitution prohibits anyone sentenced to more than 12 months in jail from standing for parliament.
Zuma, who resigned in 2018 amid corruption allegations, was convicted of contempt of court in 2021 and sentenced to 15 months. Although he served less than three months, the court ruled that this remission was irrelevant to his eligibility.
“This court concludes that Mr Zuma was convicted of an offence and sentenced to more than 12 months imprisonment… and is accordingly not eligible to be a member of and not qualified to stand for election to the national assembly,” Justice Leona Theron said, reading the judgment.
After a South African general election, the president is chosen by MPs from among their own ranks, so if Zuma is not on the ballot he could not become president, even if his newly-formed party is able to muster enough seats to propose him.
Supporters gathered in the streets around the court, some of them in the military fatigues often worn by members of his uMkhonto we Sizwe (MK) party, are determined to win enough seats — two thirds of the National Assembly — to change the constitution.
On Saturday, former president Zuma attracted a massive crowd of 30,000 to a stadium in Soweto, just outside Johannesburg, addressing his core supporters exclusively in Zulu.
“We are very disappointed. There is an agenda, of course, to delay the liberation of black people in this country,” stated Lindiwe Mtshali, a 39-year-old member of the MK party.
Mtshali, donning a black MK Women’s League T-shirt, acknowledged that the decision regarding Zuma’s candidacy was anticipated. However, she expressed confidence that the remaining MK candidates would still perform well in the May 29 election, noting that Zuma’s name and face would still appear on the pre-printed ballot papers.
“We are resolute,” she declared.
