Former South African President Jacob Zuma has been expelled from the African National Congress (ANC) on charges of leading a rival party in the country’s recent elections, state broadcaster SABC reported on Sunday.
Late last year, Zuma defected from the then-ruling ANC, which had helped him win two presidential elections, to join the newly formed uMkhonto weSizwe party (MK). He accused Africa’s oldest liberation movement of being responsible for the collapse of “democratically elected structures” in the country and warned that it would lose the national election for the first time since the abolition of apartheid.
Zuma first took office as South Africa’s president in 2009, but corruption scandals under his government, responsibility for which he has repeatedly denied, forced him to resign during his second term in 2018.
He became leader of the MK in April, but was barred from running for a seat in the National Assembly in the May election due to a previous conviction.
The ANC launched disciplinary proceedings against the 82-year-old on July 17, following his suspension in January for violating its laws by campaigning for the left-wing party while still a member of the coalition.
The disciplinary committee found Zuma guilty of “prejudicing the integrity” of the party by joining MK, SABC has claimed, citing a leaked ANC document. He has three weeks to appeal the decision, according to the outlet.
In a statement on Monday, the MK party said Zuma had not been notified of the ruling. “An examination of the leaked document reveals that the disciplinary process was not only profoundly flawed but also conducted in a manner akin to a kangaroo court,” it stated.
“This leak is not an isolated incident but the climax of a series of repressive actions that disturbingly echo tactics once used during apartheid—an era from which the current ANC leadership under Ramaphosa and its coalition partners, the DA [the Democratic Alliance – South Africa’s largest opposition party], seem to have drawn inspiration,” it added.
The ANC has yet to confirm Zuma’s expulsion.
The ANC, in power for the three decades since the abolition of Apartheid, lost its majority for the first time after winning 159 seats in the 400-member assembly, down from 230 in the May votes. The MK party got 58 seats, coming in third behind the DA, which won 87.
Cyril Ramaphosal, who succeeded Zuma in 2018, was sworn in for a second term as South Africa’s president after being reelected by the National Assembly last month through a coalition agreement with the center-right DA and smaller parties.