Meet Jacob Zuma, former president shaking up South African election
World
Meet Jacob Zuma, former president shaking up South African election
JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - Six years after South Africa's scandal-plagued former president Jacob Zuma was pushed out of office, he is backing a new party against his longtime political home the African National Congress (ANC) in Wednesday's national election.
Zuma's political return as the leader of uMkhonto we Sizwe (MK), a party named after the ANC's former armed wing, is significant since the ANC is fighting to retain its majority amid declining popularity. Support for MK is around 8%-14% nationally, according to opinion polls.
Although 82-year-old Zuma is legally barred from standing for parliament due to a jail sentence, MK's emergence has disrupted the political landscape, testifying to his enduring influence particularly in his home province KwaZulu-Natal.
An anti-apartheid veteran and Zulu traditionalist, Zuma has a strong following especially in rural areas due to his populist style and modest upbringing.
He rose through the ANC to serve as deputy president of South Africa from 1999 to 2005 under former President Thabo Mbeki, but was dismissed when he was implicated in a graft trial relating to a $2 billion arms deal.
Corruption charges against him were dropped and reinstated multiple times amid claims of political interference, and the case is only scheduled to go to trial next year.
Zuma's nine years as president from 2009 were defined by what South Africans call "state capture" after an inquiry pointed to systemic corruption in which well-connected business people plundered state resources.
When the ANC eventually pressured him to quit in 2018, Zuma ranted to the state broadcaster for an hour about his treatment by the party he had served since he was a teenager, saying his comrades had not followed proper party procedure.
