South Africa’s Supreme Court Rules Zuma Ineligible for Election

The supreme court dismissed Zuma’s challenge to an electoral commission ruling that his prior contempt conviction disqualifies him from serving as an MP, affirming that the constitution excludes anyone who has been sentenced to over 12 months in prison.

South Africa’s highest court decreed on Monday that the corruption-accused former president, now a vociferous opposition contender, Jacob Zuma, cannot run for parliament in the upcoming general election next week.

The verdict is likely to incite Zuma’s followers and heighten the risk of violent turmoil leading up to the May 29 vote, which is shaping up to be the most fiercely contested since the establishment of post-apartheid democracy in 1994.

The supreme court dismissed Zuma’s challenge to an electoral commission ruling that his prior contempt conviction disqualifies him from serving as an MP, affirming that the constitution excludes anyone who has been sentenced to over 12 months in prison.

‘Ineligible’

Zuma, who resigned in 2018 amid corruption charges, was found guilty of contempt of court in 2021 and received a 15-month sentence. He served less than three months behind bars, but the court deemed this reduction as irrelevant.

“The court finds that Mr Zuma was convicted of an offense and sentenced to imprisonment exceeding 12 months... thus, he is not eligible and unqualified to be a member or to stand for election to the national assembly,” Justice Leona Theron announced in the judgment.

In South Africa, MPs select the president from among themselves after a general election. Therefore, Zuma’s absence from the ballot means he cannot become president, even if his newly established party secures enough seats to nominate him.

Zuma’s supporters, some donning the military attire typical of his uMkhonto we Sizwe (MK) party members, congregated around the court, determined to secure a two-thirds majority in the National Assembly to amend the constitution.

‘Determined’

Despite this, opinion polls indicate the party may not fare well beyond Zuma’s home province of KwaZulu-Natal.

The ex-president attracted a massive crowd of 30,000 to a Soweto stadium on Saturday, addressing his primary supporters in Zulu.

“We are profoundly disappointed. Clearly, there’s an agenda to postpone the emancipation of black people in this nation,” stated MK party member Lindiwe Mtshali, 39, outside the court.

Mtshali, clad in an MK Women’s League T-shirt, anticipated the ruling on Zuma’s candidacy but believed the remaining MK candidates would still succeed on May 29, with Zuma’s likeness already printed on the ballots.

“We stand firm,” she declared.

Post-presidency, Zuma has been embroiled in numerous legal disputes.

He established the MK party to oppose his successor Cyril Ramaphosa’s African National Congress (ANC) in the imminent election, marking the first time since 1994 the ruling party might not secure an outright majority.

The ANC has triumphed in every election since South Africa’s transition to democracy in 1994. Zuma led the party from 2009 to 2018, a period many South Africans associate with rampant corruption.

Neeshan Balton, the 62-year-old director of the Ahmed Kathrada Foundation, which participated as amicus curiae, praised the decision outside the court.

The ruling reinforces the requirement for candidates to commit to upholding the constitution. “We’re gratified that the former president, who evidently wouldn’t honor the constitution, is disqualified,” he remarked.

Should Zuma’s insurgent campaign erode the ANC’s core support, Ramaphosa might have to form a coalition with smaller opposition parties to secure re-election.

The exclusion of Zuma from the ballot could also incite a lethal surge of unrest, reminiscent of the riots following his 2021 jailing that resulted in over 350 fatalities.

According to South Africa’s esteemed Independent Electoral Commission, although the ballots feature Zuma’s image, he will be ineligible to serve as an MP.

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