{"id":23302,"date":"2024-04-10T18:05:50","date_gmt":"2024-04-10T18:05:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/2024\/04\/10\/jacob-zuma-south-africas-scandal-ridden-ex-president-is-running-again\/"},"modified":"2024-04-10T18:05:50","modified_gmt":"2024-04-10T18:05:50","slug":"jacob-zuma-south-africas-scandal-ridden-ex-president-is-running-again","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/2024\/04\/10\/jacob-zuma-south-africas-scandal-ridden-ex-president-is-running-again\/","title":{"rendered":"Jacob Zuma, South Africa\u2019s Scandal-Ridden Ex-President, Is Running Again"},"content":{"rendered":"<div style=\"text-align:center\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1050\" height=\"550\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2024\/04\/10\/multimedia\/10safrica-zuma-1-pcbl\/10safrica-zuma-1-pcbl-facebookJumbo.jpg?fit=1050,550&amp;ssl=1\" class=\"attachment-post-thumbnail size-post-thumbnail wp-post-image\" alt=\"Jacob Zuma, South Africa\u2019s Scandal-Ridden Ex-President, Is Running Again\" title=\"Jacob Zuma, South Africa\u2019s Scandal-Ridden Ex-President, Is Running Again\" \/><\/div><p> <br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Jacob Zuma, who <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2018\/02\/14\/world\/africa\/jacob-zuma-resigns-south-africa.html\" title=\"\">resigned as South Africa\u2019s president in shame<\/a> in 2018, is now staging his biggest comeback act yet by running in next month\u2019s parliamentary elections with an upstart opposition party at the top of its ticket \u2014 the slot designated for a party\u2019s presidential contender.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Mr. Zuma\u2019s participation in the race is a blow to a faltering African National Congress \u2014 the party he once led \u2014 which has governed the country since the end of apartheid three decades ago. The A.N.C. and its leader, the country\u2019s current president, Cyril Ramaphosa, are now struggling to win back the trust of voters disillusioned by a stagnant economy and years of corruption.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Mr. Zuma, who is 81, won a big victory on Tuesday when he was cleared by a court to be on the ballot, despite having served time in prison for refusing to testify in a corruption inquiry. On Wednesday, his party \u2014 uMkhonto weSizwe \u2014 released its list of national candidates with his name at the top.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">His party, known as MK, was formed only last December, but has already climbed in the polls, gained ground in local elections and won several legal battles for the right to contest the May 29 election.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">If MK does well enough in the parliamentary elections, Mr. Zuma will secure a seat in Parliament. The new lawmakers will then elect the country\u2019s next president. As a member of Parliament, Mr. Zuma would be eligible to be president, or could play kingmaker if the A.N.C. does not win enough seats to form a government \u2014 as many political analysts anticipate.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cThe victory of the MK marks disaster for the A.N.C.,\u201d said Bheki Mngomezulu, the director for the Center for the Advancement of Non-Racialism and Democracy at Nelson Mandela University.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The country\u2019s Independent Electoral Commission, which had barred him from running, has three days to challenge Tuesday\u2019s ruling allowing Mr. Zuma\u2019s candidacy. The commission said it was now seeking legal advice. But analysts warned that another court challenge so close to a crucial election could damage the commission\u2019s reputation and play in Mr. Zuma\u2019s favor.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">It challenged the legality of MK\u2019s electoral registration last month, but lost a court bid. Then it tried to stop Mr. Zuma\u2019s new party, which bears the name of the A.N.C.\u2019s apartheid-era armed wing, from using a name and colors historically associated with the party of Nelson Mandela, arguing that to do so would create confusion among voters. The court ruled in favor or Mr. Zuma then, too.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">When the special electoral court sided with Mr. Zuma on Tuesday, it did not give reasons for its decision to allow him to run as a candidate. An earlier decision by the Independent Electoral Commission had ruled him ineligible to run because of the 15-month prison sentence he received for defying a court order in a national corruption inquiry three years ago. Mr. Zuma\u2019s lawyers argued that he was in fact eligible, because he had been released on medical parole two months into his sentence and was later pardoned by President Ramaphosa, his successor and now political rival.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Mr. Zuma, no stranger to the courts, has turned these court appearances into spontaneous political rallies.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Like former U.S. President Donald J. Trump, the Republican front-runner in the coming American election, Mr. Zuma has spun his legal battles into a tale of political persecution that his supporters have lapped up. During his televised court hearing this week, Mr. Zuma\u2019s lawyers accused the Independent Electoral Commission of political bias.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cThe attitude has been, \u2018Let\u2019s see where we can catch him,\u2019\u201d Dali Mpofu, Mr. Zuma\u2019s lawyer, told the court.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Mr. Zuma\u2019s new party has expressed confidence that these and older court battles, including a corruption trial that has dragged on for years, will not deter voters.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cIf we felt there was any merit to those accusations, we probably would have reconsidered,\u201d Lebogang Moepeng, the party\u2019s treasurer general said in an interview.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">He said the party had already attracted 3.8 million members via its online platform, with many new sign-ups coming from Johannesburg and the cities of South Africa\u2019s economic hub, Gauteng Province. This, Mr. Moepeng said, showed support for MK beyond Mr. Zuma\u2019s traditional stronghold, KwaZulu-Natal Province in the east of the country.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The growing support for MK is also threatening the country\u2019s traditional opposition parties. Of all the A.N.C. leaders, many South Africans still see Mr. Zuma as the one who is \u201cclosest to the people,\u201d said Mr. Mngomezulu, the political analyst.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">In Kwa-Zulu Natal, where Mr. Zuma\u2019s face began appearing on campaign posters earlier this year, the A.N.C. maintained that it did not feel threatened by having Mr. Zuma\u2019s face on the ballot now, too.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cIt has no impact on the A.N.C.,\u201d said Nhlakanipho Ntombela, who heads the party\u2019s campaign efforts in the province.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Although the party\u2019s membership swelled when Mr. Zuma came to power in 2014, Mr. Ntombela added, its support then declined while he was president.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<p><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2024\/04\/10\/world\/africa\/south-africa-jacob-zuma-election.html\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Jacob Zuma, who resigned as South Africa\u2019s president in shame in 2018, is now staging his biggest comeback act yet by running in next month\u2019s parliamentary elections with an upstart opposition party at the top of its ticket \u2014 the slot designated for a party\u2019s presidential contender. Mr. Zuma\u2019s participation in the race is a [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":23303,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2024\/04\/10\/multimedia\/10safrica-zuma-1-pcbl\/10safrica-zuma-1-pcbl-facebookJumbo.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[1664,6135,28603,8271,28605,6967,28604],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23302"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=23302"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23302\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":23304,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23302\/revisions\/23304"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/23303"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23302"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23302"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23302"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}