JOHANNESBURG (AP) — South Africa faces an unusual national election this year, the seventh vote since the transition from a white minority government to a democracy 30 years ago. Opinion polls and analysts warn that the ruling African National Congress party is comfortably in power for the first time since then Nelson Mandela who became the country’s first black president in 1994 could get less than 50% of the vote.
One big reason is Jacob Zuma, the former president and ANC leader who resigned in disgrace in 2018 amid a whirlwind of corruption allegations but emerged in recent months with a new political party. It plans to be a major electoral player as the former president seeks revenge on former longtime allies.
Here’s what you need to know about 82-year-old Zuma’s return to the political ring and how it could play a major electoral role.
WHO IS JACOB ZUMA?
Zuma has long been one of South Africa’s most recognizable politicians. He was a senior leader of the ANC during the liberation struggle against apartheid. As the former head of the ANC intelligence service, he has repeatedly threatened to reveal some of the party’s secrets. Although Zuma was not one of Mandela’s preferred choices to succeed him, Mandela trusted Zuma to play an influential role in ending the deadly political violence that engulfed KwaZulu-Natal province before the historic 1994 elections. The province has since has remained a vocal base of support for Zuma, and members of Zuma’s Zulu ethnic group form the majority. Zuma became vice-chairman of the ANC in 1997 and appointed vice-president of South Africa in 1999.
HOW DOES HE BECOME PRESIDENT?
Zuma’s path to power included legal challenges. In 2006, he was found not guilty of raping a comrade’s daughter at Zuma’s Johannesburg home. A year earlier, he was dismissed as South Africa’s vice president after his financial adviser was convicted of corruption for soliciting bribes for Zuma during a notorious arms deal. Zuma claimed it was a political witch hunt and launched an aggressive political campaign that saw him elected president of the ANC in 2007. His campaign appealed to widespread discontent with then-President Thabo Mbeki, who was often described as autocratic and aloof. Corruption charges against Zuma were later dropped amid controversy and he was elected president of South Africa in 2009.
HOW DID HE LOSE POWER?
Zuma’s presidency was often under fire. His close friends and allies, the Gupta family, were accused of influencing appointments to key cabinet positions in exchange for lucrative business deals. Allegations of corruption in government and state-owned enterprises ultimately led to the ANC’s Zuma resignation in 2018. A judicial commission of inquiry uncovered a wide range of evidence, and Zuma was sentenced to 15 months in prison in 2021 for refusing to testify. . Zuma remains sad about the ANC and its successor, President Cyril Ramaphosa. But few South Africans expected the rift to go this far.
HOW DID HE COME BACK?
Zuma shocked the country in December by denouncing the ANC and campaigning against a party that was central to his political career. His new political party, UMkhonto WeSizwe, is named after the military wing of the ANC, which was disbanded at the end of the struggle against white minority rule. The ANC has launched a lawsuit to prevent the new party from using a name and logo similar to that of the military wing. The charismatic Zuma continues to crisscross the country giving lively speeches, and an image of his face will represent the party on the ballot papers.
WHAT ARE ZUMA’S ELECTION CHANCES?
The ANC has already faced pressure from other opposition parties. But Zuma’s new party threatens to gain support from within the often divided ANC. South Africa’s electoral body has allowed him to run for a seat in parliament, despite his previous conviction. Polls show that the new party could develop into one of the country’s largest opposition parties and could play an important role as the weakening ANC needs to form coalitions to govern the country. Addressing his supporters at a recent rally, Zuma declared: “I must return so I can put things right.”
