Former South African President Jacob Zuma on Thursday criticized the country’s highest court and his former allies in the ruling African National Congress over his disqualification from next week’s election and said he would fight for his rights “in a disciplined way.”
Zuma’s comments came in a video message he said was aimed at the people of South Africa and released on social media six days before the possibly pivotal national vote.
The 82-year-old former leader made clear he would still campaign against the ANC he once led in the run-up to Wednesday’s election with his new political party, even though he has been barred from standing as a candidate for a return to Parliament six years after he resigned the presidency under a cloud of corruption allegations.
Zuma was disqualified on Monday by the apex Constitutional Court over a section of the constitution that says anyone who has been given a prison sentence of 12 months or more without the option of a fine cannot stand for Parliament until five years after the sentence was completed. Zuma was sentenced to 15 months in prison in 2021 for contempt by the same court for refusing to testify at an inquiry into corruption.
Zuma cast himself as a victim of a biased legal system and asked the people of South Africa to “take a stand to correct the wrongs of this country.” It was not a call for unrest, though, as he emphasized “I want peace. I want equality. I want freedom.”
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa adresses African National Congress supporters at the Siyanqoba rally at FNB stadium in Johannesburg, South Africa, Saturday, May 25, 2024. South African will vote in the 2024 general elections May 29.
South Africa’s 4 big political parties begin final weekend of campaigning ahead of election
A bus passes by a police officer on patrol near the airport in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Friday, May 24, 2024.
Kenyan police advance team leaves Haiti as international mission is delayed
FILE — South African President Cyril Ramaphosa shows the signed bill for National Health Insurance signed into law in Pretoria, South Africa, Wednesday, May 15, 2024. Several polls have the African National Congress’ support below 50% ahead of next Wednesday’s, May 29, 2024 vote, raising the prospect that it might not be the majority party for the first time since Nelson Mandela led it to victory in the first all-race elections that ended white minority rule in 1994.
It’s possible no party will get a majority in South Africa’s election. Here’s what that would mean
But his criticism of the highest court could still be seen as concerning for many South Africans who hold dearly their constitution, which guaranteed the freedom and rights of people of all races after the end of the apartheid system of forced segregation. Zuma referred to the panel of Constitutional Court judges who ruled on his disqualification as “learned friends” and said they had restricted his freedom and democracy.
“I’ve taken a decision that I will continue fighting … in different ways to convince everyone that I am right. The learned friends are not,” Zuma said. “I will continue, in a disciplined way, to fight for my rights.”
His options to appeal his election disqualification are almost non-existent as the court that barred him is the highest authority on the constitution.
Zuma’s surprising return to politics late last year with his newly formed uMkhonto we Sizwe, also known as MK Party, shook South African politics at a time when the ANC was especially vulnerable. The long-ruling party, which has been in government since the end of apartheid in 1994, could lose its majority for the first time in this election.
Analysts expect Zuma’s new party to further erode the ANC’s declining support in another blow to its chances of holding onto its majority, while Zuma has directed fierce criticism at current President Cyril Ramaphosa, the man who once served as his deputy president. It has increased tensions around an election that was already seen as the country’s most important in 30 years.
South African authorities have learned to take Zuma’s influence seriously after his jailing in 2021 was followed by a week of rioting, looting and burning in parts of Africa’s most advanced country, leading to more than 350 deaths. It was some of the worst violence South Africa had seen since the end of apartheid.