Former president Jacob Zuma. Photo: Supplied
Former president Jacob Zuma could be a member of the National Assembly following the 29 May general elections, after the electoral court overturned the Electoral Commission of South Africa’s (IEC) decision to bar him from contesting.
Zuma was listed as the first candidate for the uMkhonto weSizwe party in its national list for seats in parliament, but his ambitions were throttled in March when the IEC determined that his 15-month jail term imposed in 2021 for contempt of court meant he was ineligible to contest elections.
Zuma then challenged the IEC ruling.
In its judgment, which was released electronically on Tuesday, the electoral court ruled that the IEC decision against Zuma be set aside.
“The order is hereby dismissed,” it said.
Should the ANC fail in its legal application for the MK party to be deregistered, the governing party could find itself under further threat of being dislodged from power.
Recent polling has suggested the MK party, under Zuma, could cause considerable harm to the ANC’s prospects of retaining its majority in KwaZulu-Natal.
The ruling party was already under threat of losing its majority in the province, but the inclusion of MK in the mix could result in further losses that might see the ANC dip below 50% on 29 May.
Zuma’s application to the electoral court hinged on then-correctional services commissioner Arthur Frazer and President Cyril Ramaphosa granting him three months remission into his jail term for contempt of court. Zuma received a presidential remission of sentence in August 2023.
Speaking to his supporters outside the electoral court on Tuesday, Zuma argued that he was eligible to become a state president once again, because he had not completed his second, and final, term in office when the ANC recalled him in February 2018.
“It’s in the Constitution and how can they deny that? The Nkandla boy did not finish his two terms. If they say go back, no one will stop me. They forget that I didn’t finish my term, there’s still something I need to go and finish,” Zuma said.
“I was in government while I was a member of the ANC. I have never heard that when you leave the other party and you start yours, you don’t have a right to be president of it. There’s nothing that says that in the law.”
In his court application to have the IEC ruling overturned, Zuma’s lawyers said he had not been criminally charged, did not undergo a trial and was not convicted of a criminal offence but was instead subjected to civil contempt proceedings. This meant his removal from the candidates’ list based on a criminal conviction was improper.
The lawyers said the IEC had also failed to take into consideration Zuma’s remission of sentence, in terms of which he served only three months after being released on medical parole in September 2021.
Zuma’s lawyer, Dali Mpofu SC, argued that the decision by the IEC to remove his client would be an infringement of his rights and would deprive MK party supporters of voting for the candidate of their choice.
“We are dealing with the rights of former president Zuma which have been infringed. Section 19 3b says every citizen has a right to stand for political office and if elected to hold political office,” Mpofu said.
“We find that the attitude of the IEC in this matter has been ‘let’s see where we can catch him and when we do catch him, let’s make sure he doesn’t come out alive’. That cannot be the attitude of a South African institution, let alone an independent institution whose job is to ensure all our section 19 rights are realised.”
The IEC has argued that grounds for disqualification are when a person was convicted of an offence and has been sentenced to more than 12 months imprisonment without the option of a fine.