In South Africa, former President Jacob Zuma can no longer officially claim to be a member of the ANC. The man who made a breakthrough in the last elections in May with his new political party uMkhonto we Sizwe (MK) saw his exclusion confirmed by his former party on Friday 22 November after his appeal was rejected. This is a turning point in South African political history.
Jacob Zuma joined the party in 1959 and then joined its armed wing, Umkhonto we Sizwe – a name he also reused to name his recent political party. In 1963, he was arrested for his activities and imprisoned for 10 years on Robben Island. And it was under the ANC banner that he was twice elected to lead the country, a presidency marked by corruption scandals.
His exclusion was therefore not taken lightly, but Nelson Mandela’s historic party believes it had no other choice. Supporting a rival party represents “the most serious form of indiscipline, and a direct attack on the historic mission of the ANC,” as the party wrote in a statement, adding that “no individual is more important than our movement.”
Jacob Zuma is about to celebrate the first anniversary of his MK party, which polled 14% nationally in the last election, placing it in third place. He himself was barred from running for parliament because of a previous conviction, but he oversees the party as it continues to gain ground on the other main opposition force, Julius Malema’s EFF (Economic Freedom Fighters).
