How former South African leader Zuma betrayed his friends and emerged as an unexpected opponent in the election

This year, South Africa will hold its eighth national election since democratizing 30 years ago and moving away from white minority rule. It will be an unusual election. Surveys and pundits caution that for the first time since Nelson Mandela became the nation’s first Black president in 1994, the governing African National Congress party may earn less than 50% of the vote.

The ANC leader and former president Jacob Zuma, who resigned in disgrace in 2018 after a flurry of corruption accusations, is a major factor. However, in recent months, he has reappeared with a new political party. As the former president seeks retribution against former close associates, it plans to play a significant role in the election.

Here’s all you need to know about the 82-year-old Zuma’s potential impact on the election and his comeback to politics.

JACOB ZUMA: WHO IS SHE?

One of the most well-known politicians in South Africa for a very long time is Zuma. During the ANC’s liberation fight against apartheid, he held a high position of leadership. He is a former head of ANC intelligence who has made repeated threats to divulge some of the party’s trade secrets. Mandela trusted Zuma to have a significant impact in putting a stop to the fatal political violence that had consumed KwaZulu-Natal province before to the historic 1994 elections, even though Zuma was not one of his top picks to follow him. Since then, the province has continued to be an outspoken bastion of support for Zuma, with the bulk of its citizens belonging to his Zulu ethnic group. In 1997, Zuma was named the ANC’s deputy leader. In 1999, he was named the deputy president of South Africa.

WAY HE GOT PRESIDENTIAL?

Legal obstacles were in Zuma’s way of ascending to power. He was acquitted in 2006 of raping a comrade’s daughter in Zuma’s Johannesburg residence. He lost his job as South Africa’s deputy president a year before after his financial adviser was found guilty of accepting bribes for Zuma during a contentious weapons deal. Zuma began a vigorous political campaign that resulted in his election as the ANC president in 2007 on the grounds of a supposed political witch hunt. His campaign catered to the general dissatisfaction with Thabo Mbeki, the president at the time, who was often characterized as distant and dictatorial. After controversy, the corruption allegations against Zuma were subsequently dismissed, and in 2009 he was elected president of South Africa.

HOW WAS HIS POWER LOST?

Zuma’s leadership was often criticized. The Gupta family, who were close friends and supporters of his, were charged of swaying nominations to important cabinet posts in return for profitable commercial transactions. After years of accusations of corruption in state-owned businesses and the government, the ANC forced Zuma to step down in 2018. Wide-ranging evidence was found by a judicial panel of investigation, and as a result, in 2021, Zuma was found guilty and given a 15-month prison term for his refusal to testify. President Cyril Ramaphosa, the ANC, and Zuma himself continue to irritate him. Yet hardly many South Africans anticipated the breach would go this far.

WAYS HAS HE EMERGED AGAIN?

In December, Zuma campaigned against the party that had been the center of his political career and denounced the ANC, shocking the nation. The ANC’s military arm, which was dissolved at the conclusion of the fight against white minority rule, inspired the name of his new political party, UMkhonto WeSizwe. In an attempt to prevent the new party from adopting a name and logo that are similar to those of the military wing, the ANC has filed a lawsuit. The captivating Zuma is still touring the nation giving animated speeches, and the party’s visage will appear on ballots.

WHAT ARE THE CHANGES IN ZUMA’S ELECTION?

Other opposition parties have been applying pressure to the ANC previously. However, Zuma’s new party poses a danger to garner ANC support from its often split membership. Despite his prior conviction, the electoral commission of South Africa has granted him permission to seek for a parliamentary seat. According to polls, the new party may become one of the largest opposition parties in the nation and might be very important if the ANC, which is losing ground, has to create coalitions in order to govern. At a recent rally, Zuma told his followers, “I need to return so that I can fix things.”