SOUTH Africa’s former president Jacob Zuma on Tuesday filed an appeal against a decision by electoral officials barring him from running in elections as tensions mount ahead of the May polls.
The electoral commission last week excluded the 81-year-old politician, who is campaigning for a new opposition party, over a 2021 contempt of court conviction.
But in court papers seen by AFP, lawyers for Zuma and the party argued that the sentence did not disqualify him for it followed civil rather than criminal proceedings.
The electoral commission “had no valid reasons to violate the political rights of President Zuma,” the papers said.
“(Zuma) was not an accused, he was not charged with an offence by a criminal court, he was not involved in any criminal trial proceedings”.
South Africa is to hold general elections 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 that seek to capitalise on the ANC’s weakness is Zuma’s new uMkhonto we Sizwe (MK) party.
Named after the ANC’s former armed wing 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 province — with some polls even putting it at 13 per cent nationwide.
It largely relies on the considerable political clout still wielded by Zuma, who despite scandals and graft allegations is still largely popular, particularly among the country’s more than 10 million Zulus.
