The former President of South Africa and the leader of the uMkhonto WeSizwe Party Jacob Zuma has been today banned by the Country’s Constitutional Court from participating in the May 29th elections come next week.
The Electoral court had earlier on okayed Zuma’s candidature, but the Electoral Commission of South Africa lodged in their appeal challenging the decision made by the Electoral Court.
In her ruling, Justice Leona Theron said, “Mr Zuma is not eligible to be a member of, and not qualified to stand for election to the National Assembly until five years have elapsed since the completion of his sentence.”
Mr Zuma was arrested in 2021 after refusing to give evidence in a corruption inquiry. Court ruled in his absence and he was sentenced for 15 Months in prison.
After 3 months, Mr. Zuma was among the beneficiaries of President Ramaphosa’s remission in an attempt to reduce the over crowded PRISIONS.
Jacob Zuma has just launched his party manifesto on 18th May last Saturday in Soweto, but his fellow party leaders are still strong that their party will still pull it off on 29th, despite today’s court ruling.
Court’s interpretation of article 47 (1) E of South Africa’s clearly showed that Jacob Zuma will be eligible to run as South Africa’s President, 5 years from the date of his sentence completion.
During an interview on radio 702 after the court’s ruling, President Ramaphosa said ” I’m not concerned about this instigating violence. President Jacob Zuma should be the one person who should respect the rule of law. Should there be any threats of violence, our security forces are ready to deal with that.”
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