What You need to Know About Jacob Zuma’s Disqualification from Contesting in the Elections in South Africa

Former President Jacob Zuma was disqualified by South Africa’s Election Commission on Thursday, March 28th, from running in the nation’s upcoming May elections.

The commission did not explain its choice clearly, although it is most likely related to Zuma’s 2021 conviction and incarceration. According to South Africa’s constitution, a person condemned for more than a year cannot hold public office. According to the Anadolu Agency in South Africa, Zuma now has until April 2 to file an appeal against his ineligibility.

In 1994, the African National Congress (ANC) emerged victorious in its battle against apartheid. Similar to the Indian National Congress throughout the 1950s and 1960s, it has maintained a firm grip on South African politics ever since. This pattern is not exclusive to South Africa. Professor of Public Affairs at Tshwane University of Technology in Pretoria, Mashupye Herbert Maserumule, said for The Conversation that “liberation movements that became governing parties… enjoyed wide popularity in the earlier years of independence.”

Even though the ANC’s appeal has declined recently, it has consistently garnered more than 50% of the vote in every national election. However, Jacob Zuma and his newly formed uMkhonto weSizwe (MK) party are about to alter that.