A former President of South Africa, Jacob Zuma has been officially barred from standing in elections in May, the electoral commission has announced.
Africa Today News, New York reports that general elections in South Africa are scheduled for May 29. It is anticipated that this would be the most contested election since apartheid ended in 1994.
The governing African National Congress (ANC) is on the brink of dropping below 50 percent of the vote for the first time since it came to power in 1994.
The party is bleeding support amid a weak economy and allegations of corruption and mismanagement.
If the ANC falls below the 50 percent threshold, it will force the party, once led by Nelson Mandela, to form a coalition to stay in office.
Recent polls put the ANC on just more than 40 percent of the vote with the main opposition Democratic Alliance on about 27 percent and the MK party on 13 percent.
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Zuma’s tenure ended in 2018 under a cloud of corruption allegations when incumbent Cyril Ramaphosa replaced him.
He was later sentenced to 15 months in jail in June 2021 after refusing to testify to a panel probing financial corruption and cronyism under his presidency. His jailing prompted protests, riots and looting that left more than 350 dead.
He was freed on medical parole just two months into his term.
An appeals court later ruled Zuma’s release was illegally granted and ordered him back to jail.
But on returning to a correctional centre, he immediately benefitted from a remission of non-violent offenders approved by Ramaphosa.
The electoral commission said in a statement that under the constitution “any person who was convicted of an offence and sentenced to more than 12 months imprisonment without the option of a fine” cannot stand in an election.
Zuma is also facing separate charges of corruption in an arms procurement scandal in the 1990s when he was vice president.
Despite his legal troubles, Zuma still wields political clout and has been campaigning for the MK party in an attempt to revive his career and weaken his former party, the ANC, which suspended him in January.
The decision to bar Zuma can be appealed before April 2.