Former president of South Africa, Jacob Zuma has been expelled from the African National Congress (ANC).
The ANC decided to sack Mr. Zuma for campaigning for the rival party, uMkhonto we Sizwe (MK) in the 29 May general election.
Mr. Zuma was hauled before the disciplinary committee of the party, which found him guilty of “prejudicing the integrity” of the party by joining MK party.
Zuma faced two charges: one for collaborating with another political organisation (MKP) and the second for joining another political party not aligned with the ANC.
The ANC secured just 40% of the national vote at the general election while Zuma’s MK Party achieved a remarkable 14% of the national vote.
The party dealt a significant blow to the ANC in the elections, both provincially and nationally.
The former president has three weeks to appeal against the committee’s ruling, local media is reporting.
The ANC has not officially confirmed Mr. Zuma’s expulsion but local media is reporting about the development sourcing a leaked ANC document.
It is not clear if Mr. Zuma himself has been informed of this latest development yet.
But in a statement, MK said it was shocked to learn from media reports that Mr Zuma had been expelled.
The disciplinary proceedings were conducted “in a manner akin to a kangaroo court”, the party said.
“It is a foundational legal principle that no person, not even those accused of a serious crime, should be punished or sentenced in their absence,” it added.
The President of the African National Congress Veterans’ League, Snuki Zikalala, told local TV channel Newzroom Afrika, that the decision to sack Zuma was long overdue.
Zikalala said Zuma’s expulsion is better for the party and society. “He has worked against the ANC, established his own party and managed to deceive more than two million people by saying he is still a member of the ANC. We welcome the decision to expel him and say if he wants to appeal, let him appeal,” he said.
Mr Zuma, 82, once led the ANC but fell out with the party after he was forced to quit as president in 2018 over corruption scandals.
South Africa’s current president, Cyril Ramaphosa, replaced Zuma in 2018, promising to clean up the government.
In 2021 he was jailed for contempt of court after refusing to fully cooperate with an inquiry into corruption during his nine-year presidency.
Zuma’s arrest sparked the deadliest riots since the end of white-minority rule in 1994 and led to the deaths of more than 300 people. He currently faces corruption charges over a 1999 arms deal.
Source: Africafeeds.com
