Former South African President Jacob Zuma has been expelled from the African National Congress (ANC), the party he once led, after campaigning for a rival party in the May 29 general election, local media reported.
The ANC disciplinary commission has found him guilty of “damaging the integrity” of the party by joining uMkhonto we Sizwe (MK). The commission has given him three weeks to appeal the ruling, local media quoted a leaked ANC document as saying.
The ANC has not yet officially confirmed his expulsion, while MK said Zuma had not been informed of the decision by a “kangaroo court”.
Mr Zuma, 82, was an ANC veteran but fell out with the party after he was forced to step down as president in 2018 amid corruption scandals. He has consistently denied wrongdoing.
He was suspended by the ANC in January, following the formation of MK, which now sits in opposition in parliament to the ANC-led government.
MK said in a statement that it was shocked to learn through the media that Zuma had been expelled.
According to the party, the disciplinary procedure was conducted “as if it were a sham court”.
“It is a fundamental legal principle that no one, even those accused of a serious crime, should be punished or convicted in absentia,” the report said.
The ANC disciplinary committee held a virtual hearing, but Zuma refused to attend, saying he wanted to be physically present.
In 2021 he was imprisoned for contempt of court after he refused to fully cooperate with an investigation into corruption during his nine-year presidency.
His arrest sparked the deadliest riots since the end of white-minority rule in 1994, with more than 300 people killed.
And now he is accused of corruption about a 1999 arms deal.
South Africa’s current president, Cyril Ramaphosa, succeeded Zuma in 2018 and promised to clean up the government.
But in the May 29 elections, the ANC recorded its worst results in 30 years, forcing the ruling party to form a coalition to share power.
uMkhonto we Sizwe – meaning ‘spear of the nation’ – became the country’s third-largest party, largely by taking votes from the ANC.
It won nearly 15% of the vote and secured 58 seats in the 400-member parliament. Mr. Zuma insists the election results were rigged and has called for the election to be annulled.
After the elections, MK announced that it would join an opposition alliance in parliament.
