The Electoral Commission said on Friday it had filed an appeal with South Africa’s highest court to decide whether former President Jacob Zuma can run in general elections scheduled for May as political tensions rise.
The election is expected to be the most competitive since the advent of democracy in South Africa in 1994, and Zuma’s presence in the campaign may be a key factor.
The Commission said in a statement that it had filed an “urgent and direct” appeal to the Constitutional Court to provide “certainty.”
It is the latest development in the legal wrangling over the eligibility of the 82-year-old, who celebrated his birthday on Friday and is facing Umkhonto we Sizwe (MK), a new opposition party that has become a potential troublemaker in the May 29 poll.
In a surprise ruling on Tuesday, the Electoral Tribunal ruled that Zuma could run, overturning the Electoral Commission’s decision to bar him from running because he was found guilty of violating the court’s ruling.
The committee excluded Zuma from the race at the end of last month, saying that the constitution prohibits anyone from being sentenced to more than 12 months in prison.
Zuma was sentenced to 15 months in prison in June 2021 after refusing to testify before a commission investigating financial corruption and nepotism during his presidency.
His lawyers said the ruling did not disqualify him because it came after civil proceedings, not criminal ones, and was shortened by the pardon.
Zuma was released on medical parole just two months into his prison term.
The Electoral Commission said on Friday that there was a “significant public interest in providing certainty about the correct interpretation” of the constitutional provision regarding convicted election candidates.
“Such clarity is important in the current issue because it is a live issue and also for the upcoming elections,” she said.
The committee did not intend to appeal “to interfere in the political playing field.”
“It is rather about ensuring free and fair elections by ensuring that the applicable constitutional provisions related to elections are clearly understood by all players and applied equally,” he added.
“The Knesset Party will be thrilled by this,” political commentator Sizwe Mpofu-Walsh wrote on X.
If the court hears the appeal, “it will give MK a significant opportunity to mobilize on the eve of the election. It will keep MK in the headlines and further unite the party around the narrative of oppression – a narrative on which President Zuma thrives.” ,” He said.
Agence France-Presse was unable to reach the Knesset Party for comment.
The MK, banking on his popularity, is expected to reduce the vote share of the embattled African National Congress, the ruling party and former political home of Zuma.
This could see the ANC’s vote share fall below 50% for the first time since 1994.
In the absence of a parliamentary majority, the party will be forced to search for coalition partners to remain in power.
The ANC is facing difficulties in opinion polls amid a weak economy and allegations of corruption and mismanagement. France Press agency
