Jacob Zuma Barred from Parliament Candidacy in South Africa

Former South African President Jacob Zuma has been disqualified from running for Parliament in next week's election due to a previous criminal conviction, a move that analysts say could impact the upcoming vote.

**Paragraph 1:** Former South African President Jacob Zuma has been barred from running for Parliament in next week's national election over a previous criminal conviction, the latest twist in his return to politics. The decision by the country's highest court, the Constitutional Court, may still be appealed. It ruled that Zuma is only eligible to serve as a lawmaker five years after his 2021 sentence for contempt of court was completed.

**Paragraph 2:** Zuma is now the leader of a new party, uMkhonto weSizwe Party, and is campaigning against the long-ruling African National Congress (ANC) he once led. Analysts say the ANC, which has comfortably held power since Nelson Mandela became the country's first Black president in 1994, might receive less than 50% of votes in next Wednesday's election and lose its parliamentary majority.

**Paragraph 3:** That would be the ANC's worst electoral performance since it came into power in South Africa at the end of apartheid. One reason the ANC is under pressure is Zuma, who stepped down as president in 2018 amid a swirl of corruption allegations and now threatens to draw more support away from the ANC.

**Paragraph 4:** Zuma has long been one of South Africa's most recognizable politicians. He was a senior leader in the ANC during the liberation struggle against apartheid. A former ANC intelligence chief, he has repeatedly threatened to reveal some of the party's secrets.

**Paragraph 5:** Zuma's path to power included legal challenges. In 2006, he was found not guilty of raping the daughter of a comrade at Zuma's home in Johannesburg. A year earlier, he was fired as South Africa's deputy president after his financial advisor was convicted for corruption for soliciting bribes for Zuma during an infamous arms deal.

**Paragraph 6:** Alleging a political witch hunt, Zuma launched an aggressive political campaign that saw him elected ANC president in 2007. His campaign appealed to widespread discontent with then-President Thabo Mbeki, who was often described as autocratic and aloof.

**Paragraph 7:** Zuma's presidency was often under fire. His close friends and allies, the Gupta family, were accused of influencing appointments to key cabinet positions in exchange for lucrative business deals. The allegations of corruption in government and state-owned companies eventually led the ANC to force Zuma to resign in 2018.

**Paragraph 8:** A judicial commission of inquiry uncovered wide-ranging evidence, and Zuma in 2021 was convicted and sentenced to 15 months in jail for refusing to testify at that commission. Zuma remains aggrieved with the ANC and his successor, President Cyril Ramaphosa.

**Paragraph 9:** Zuma shocked the country in December by denouncing the ANC and campaigning against a party that had been at the heart of his political career. His new political party, uMkhonto weSizwe (which means Spear of the Nation), was named after the ANC's military wing, which was disbanded at the end of the struggle against white minority rule.

**Paragraph 10:** Even if he's not allowed to be a candidate, Zuma's party still threatens to draw support from within the often divided ANC. It may emerge as a significant opposition party and could play a role if the weakening ANC must form coalitions to run the country.