South Africa's Zuma wins court bid to run in May election

A court in South Africa has ruled that former president Jacob Zuma can stand in next month's general elections, overturning a decision by electoral authorities to bar him over a criminal conviction.

Former South African President Jacob Zuma (right) in the Electoral High Court in Johannesburg on 8 April 2024. AP

The electoral court on Tuesday overruled a decision by electoral authorities to bar the 81-year-old former president Jacob Zuma from running in the 29 May election, where the ruling ANC could lose its absolute majority for the first time since 1994.

"The decision of the Electoral Commission ... is set aside," the court wrote in a ruling seen by France's AFP agency. 

It did not say how the verdict was reached.  

South Africans will vote on 29 May for a new parliament, which will then elect the president.

Competitive elections

The elections are expected to be the most competitive since the advent of democracy in 1994 and Zuma's presence in the campaign could prove a key factor. 

Jacob Zuma is fronting uMkhonto weSizwe (MK), a new opposition party that could cut into the vote share of the ruling African National Congress (ANC) – the ex-president's former political home.

MK hailed the ruling as a "triumph" over what it said were ANC-led efforts to marginalise it.

"This victory extends beyond President Zuma and the MK Party as it symbolises a victory for every South African who believes in fairness, democracy, and the inviolable right to elect leaders of their choice, free from undue interference," it said.

The electoral commission said it had taken note of the decision but asked the reasons for it be made public. 

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Corruption and cronyism

Zuma was the fourth president of democratic South Africa from 2009 to 2018.

Last month, the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) excluded him from the race, saying the constitution barred anyone sentenced to more than 12 months' imprisonment.

In 2021, he was handed a 15-month sentence after refusing to testify to a panel investigating corruption and cronyism under his government.

But Zuma's lawyers have argued that he was not disqualified from running in the general elections, since the sentence followed civil rather than criminal proceedings and it had been shortened by a remission.

 Zuma was freed on medical parole just two months into his jail term.

(with AFP)