The disciplinary committee of the African National Congress (ANC), South Africa’s ruling party, has decided to expel former president Jacob Zuma from its ranks for leading a rival party in the May elections, local press reported on Sunday, July 28, citing a leaked document. “The accused member is excluded from the ANC”indicates this document dated July 29, also consulted by AFP. It “has the right to appeal to the National Disciplinary Appeals Commission within twenty-one days”the text specifies. The sanction has not been publicly announced at this stage.
Jacob Zuma had been under disciplinary proceedings since July 17. The former president had already been suspended by the ANC in January, a month after his alliance with the newly formed Umkhonto we Sizwe (MK) party, which he still leads. MK finished third in the election, with 14.5% of the vote and 58 seats out of 400, while the ANC posted its worst result in three decades, with 40% of the vote.
If his potential appeal is rejected, Jacob Zuma, 82, could see his membership in the ANC revoked, having joined the party in 1959 through its youth wing. Elected president of South Africa in 2009, he was ousted from power in 2018 over corruption scandals. He was replaced by Cyril Ramaphosa, his long-time rival. He still wields considerable political clout and enjoys the support of some sections of the ANC.
Jacob Zuma is ineligible to sit as an MP because of a 15-month prison sentence in June 2021 for contempt of court when he refused to testify at an inquiry into corruption and favouritism under his presidency. He spent two months behind bars before being released on health grounds, with his sentence later commuted by Cyril Ramaphosa. His imprisonment sparked the worst wave of violence in South Africa since the end of apartheid, with more than 350 deaths.