Former South African President Jacob Zuma was disqualified to run in next week’s national election by the nation’s highest court on Monday due to a prior criminal conviction.
This judgement is sure to provoke political unrest ahead of a crucial vote.
According to the Constitutional Court, the 82-year-old Zuma is eligible to run for office if he has been sentenced to more than 12 months in prison without the possibility of a fine under a provision of the constitution that prohibits such sentences.
The Constitutional Court found Zuma guilty of contempt in 2021 for declining to appear in court during a probe into official corruption.
Zuma was given a 15-month prison sentence in 2021.Due to the fact that Zuma had no choice but to contest the election on Wednesday, the case over whether or not that sentence disqualified him from vying for the presidential seat.
He was initially disqualified by the Independent Electoral Committee that runs South Africa’s elections before he won an appeal to the Electoral Court, which said that because he didn’t have any appeal options against the contempt ruling, it doesn’t apply in his situation.
The Constitutional Court overturned that on Monday. It said Zuma is not allowed to run for Parliament for five years from when his sentence was completed.
Zuma was former South African president from 2009-2018, but resigned under a cloud of corruption allegations.
He made a return to politics last year with a new party and has been fiercely critical of the ruling African National Congress party he once led.
The election is expected to be the toughest test for the ANC, which has been in government for 30 years since the end of the apartheid system of white minority rule.
The ruling party is in danger of losing its majority for the first time, which would likely force Africa’s most advanced economy into a national coalition government for the first time.
Zuma has also been charged with corruption in a separate case and is expected to go on trial next April. He has pleaded not guilty.
