South Africa’s former president Zuma has turned away from the ruling ANC party and is now suspending him. Because Zuma is calling for the election of a new party. But who is harmed more by this?
It is the climax so far in a bitter power struggle. The focus is on South African President Cyril Ramaphosa and his predecessor Jacob Zuma. The former chairman of the African National Congress (ANC) and long-time head of state is one of the country’s most colorful and controversial political figures.
During his term in office from 2009 to 2018, corruption in South Africa reached record levels. There was talk of “state capture,” which translated means: politicians have taken the state as their prey.
In 2021, Zuma was sentenced to 15 months in prison for violating court orders – a first. An ex-president behind bars has never happened before in South Africa. However, Zuma was released from prison a short time later due to health problems.
Last year he announced that he would no longer vote for the ANC in the upcoming parliamentary elections in the spring, but rather for the newly founded party “Umkhonto We Sizwe” (MK). He also called on all ANC members to follow his example and thereby change the country politically.
The supporters support Zuma
Despite his criminal record and various corruption allegations, the 81-year-old Zuma remains a heavyweight in South African politics today. He still has many supporters, especially among the approximately twelve million Zulus, the country’s largest ethnic group. His campaign against the ANC and President Ramaphosa could be dangerous for the ruling party.
Their image has suffered significantly due to high unemployment, rising crime rates and the still unresolved energy crisis. In the upcoming election there is a risk of losing the absolute majority for the first time.
The ANC has now suspended Zuma with immediate effect for behavior damaging to the party. “Because the ex-president is publicly calling for the ANC to be driven from power,” says Fikile Mbalula, the general secretary of the party that has ruled South Africa with an absolute majority since the first free elections in 1994.
An act of provocation?
The ANC also wants to take legal action against the new party. According to Secretary General Mbalula, their founding is not a coincidence, but a targeted provocation. After all, the new political organization MK named itself after the former armed wing of the ANC. And in today’s ruling party it is still seen as an important symbol of the fight for freedom against decades of oppression by the white apartheid regime.
ANC party leader and President Ramaphosa expressly considers the decision against his predecessor to be the right one. He describes his predecessor as a “free agent”, i.e. someone who is traveling on his own account.
Zuma supports a new party that many would assume he founded himself, Ramaphosa told the South African TV station SABC. But anyone who allies themselves with political competition can no longer be an ANC member.
ANC leader Ramaphosa is aiming for another term as president. The polls can make him optimistic – even if his opponents are gathered outside the ANC.
Demonstrative optimism
The expulsion should come as no surprise to Zuma, on the contrary. He probably even speculated on this in the hope that he could now portray himself to his supporters as the victim of a vendetta by the established ANC leadership.
In any case, Zuma is going into the parliamentary elections with great optimism. His goal, he said at a campaign event over the weekend, was a two-thirds majority. But according to current surveys, MK is far from that.
Stephan Ueberbach, ARD Johannesburg, tagesschau, January 30, 2024 12:53 p.m