South Africa’s former president Jacob Zuma on Tuesday filed an appeal against a decision by election officials barring him from running as tensions rise ahead of May’s election.
The electoral commission last week disqualified the 81-year-old politician, who is running for a new opposition party, for contempt of court in 2021.
But in court documents seen by AFP, lawyers for Zuma and the party argued that the sentence did not disqualify him because it followed civil rather than criminal proceedings.
The electoral commission had “no good reason to infringe on President Zuma’s civil rights”, the papers said.
“(Zuma) was not a defendant, he was not charged with an offense by a criminal court, he was not involved in any criminal trial.”
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South Africa is set to hold a general election on May 29 in what is expected to be the most competitive vote since the advent of democracy in 1994.
The ruling African National Congress (ANC) is struggling in the polls and risks losing its parliamentary majority for the first time since the end of apartheid, amid a weak economy and allegations of corruption and mismanagement.
Among the groups seeking to take advantage of the ANC’s weakness is Zuma’s new uMkhonto we Sizwe (MK) party.
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Named after the former armed wing of the ANC during the anti-apartheid struggle, it looks poised to win a large share of the vote in the battleground region of KwaZulu-Natal — Zuma’s home country — with some polls they even rise to 13 percent nationally.
It relies heavily on the significant political influence still wielded by Zuma, who despite scandals and allegations of bribery remains largely popular particularly among the country’s 10 million-plus Zulus.
The fourth president of democratic South Africa from 2009 to 2018, he was bitter about the way he was forced to step down under a cloud of corruption allegations.
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Campaigning for MK in a bid to restart his career, he has attacked members of the ANC, his former political home, as “traitors” and “sellouts”.
But last week the electoral commission said he could not stand as a candidate in May under the constitution for “any person convicted of an offense and sentenced to more than 12 months’ imprisonment without the possibility of a fine” cannot stand in an election.
Zuma was sentenced to 15 months in prison in June 2021 after he refused to testify before a commission that investigated financial corruption and cronyism under his presidency.
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He was released on parole just two months into his term.
But his jailing sparked protests, riots and looting that left more than 350 dead in the worst violence in South Africa since the advent of democracy.
An appeals court later ruled that Zuma’s release was unlawful and ordered him back to prison.
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Returning to a penitentiary, he immediately benefited from the non-violent offenders’ amnesty approved by President Cyril Ramaphosa, his arch-rival and successor.
Tensions between the ANC and MK have flared in recent weeks.
The former tried unsuccessfully to cancel the latter and took it to court to prevent it from using the MK name, claiming copyright theft.
MK leader Vishvin Reddy is due to appear before another court on Wednesday for allegedly inciting violence in an online video where he is heard saying mass riots would break out if MK was not allowed to run.
Reddy denies the charges.
The electoral tribunal in Bloemfontein is expected to rule on Zuma’s disqualification from the race next week.
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