Jacob Zuma v Cyril Ramaphosa
13 June, 2024
The ANC vote fell below 50% for the first time since Nelson Mandela led them to victory in 1994 and ended the racist system of apartheid, forcing them to look for coalition partners.
The ANC got about 40% of the vote, with the centre-right Democratic Alliance (DA) on 22%, the MK party on 15% and the radical Economic Freedom Fighters on 9%.
The IFP, which is a conservative party with a strong Zulu base, got about 4% of the vote share in the election.
Many ANC activists would prefer to do a deal with the EFF and MK, which are both led by former senior ANC officials.
However, such a coalition would alarm investors because these parties favour seizing white-owned land without compensation and nationalising the country’s mines.
The business community would prefer a coalition between the ANC and DA.
[May 28 2024 ]
the ANC is still widely expected to win the most Parliament seats. The growing opposition to the ANC is split among several parties.
That will likely mean Ramaphosa stays for a second and final five-year term, though it might not be straightforward.
[May 20 2024 ]
CAPE TOWN, South Africa (AP) — Former South African President Jacob Zuma was disqualified Monday from running for a Parliament seat in next week’s national election because of a previous criminal conviction. South Africans don’t vote directly for their president, but rather for parties. Those parties get seats in Parliament according to their share of the vote. The president is elected by lawmakers, meaning the party that holds the majority chooses the president.
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The governing ANC had argued that uMkhonto we Sizwe (MK), headed by ex-President Jacob Zuma, had breached trademark law.
But the Durban High Court disagreed, allowing the use of the name, which translates as Spear of the Nation.
It is a significant victory for MK ahead the 29 May general election.
[February 20 2024 ]
Former President Jacob Zuma has been barred from running in South Africa’s general election in May. The country’s electoral commission, or IEC, has not given a reason. However, his 2021 conviction, and jailing, for contempt of court would appear to disqualify him.
[February 28 2024 ]
South Africa’s governing African National Congress (ANC) has failed in a legal bid to stop a newly formed party, backed by ex-President Jacob Zuma, from running in May’s general election.
The uMkhonto we Sizwe (MK) party takes its name from the now-disbanded armed wing of the ANC.
It is thought that Mr Zuma’s backing of the MK could affect the ANC’s support.
The electoral court rejected the ANC’s argument that the party had not met the official registration criteria.
Supporters of MK, dressed in green, danced in celebration outside the court after the ruling was read out.
The ANC has said it accepts the decision and will comply with it.
[February 20 2024 ]
Speaking for the May elections at a stadium in the city of Durban, with the crowd decked out in the ANC’s black, green and gold, President Ramaphosa promised that “we will do better”. “South Africans are more educated, empowered and healthier than they were under apartheid,” he said,
[February 20 2024 ]
DURBAN – With less than three months since its official launch, the uMkhonto weSizwe (MK) party, which is backed by former President Jacob Zuma, has come out as one of the top performers in this week’s by-elections in KwaZulu-Natal (KZN).
The by-elections, which took place in northern KZN’s Abaqulusi local municipality on Wednesday, saw the Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) growing its support from 35 to 47%, the African National Congress (ANC) up from 15% to 31%, while the MK party, which made its debut, clinched 19% of the votes, pushing the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) to fourth place. Zuma arose largely from conflict between nationalist supporters of the then Xhosa-dominated ANC and supporters of the Zulu nationalist Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP).
Several polls predict the African National Congress party, ANC, may dip below 50% of the vote in this year’s national election, which would be a landmark moment in South African politics. If the ANC loses its majority, it would need to go into coalition to remain in government and keep President Cyril Ramaphosa in office for a second and final five-year term. South Africa’s main opposition party, the Democratic Alliance, is exploring the possibility of its own coalition agreement with numerous other smaller parties, hoping it might force the ANC out of government completely.
[February 17 2024 ]
During the 2019 elections, the Democratic Alliance received just over 20% of the national vote to remain the second-biggest party in the country after the ANC. The party is now exploring the the possibility of forming a governing coalition with several other opposition parties in order to remove the ANC from power if they together win more than 50% of the national vote.
[December 17 2023 ]
Former South African president Jacob Zuma says he will not vote for the African National Congress (ANC) and is creating a new political party.
Mr Zuma was the country’s president between 2009 and 2018.
He said it “would be a betrayal” to campaign for the ANC of current President Cyril Ramaphosa.
Mr Zuma’s new party is named uMkhonto we Sizwe (MK), meaning spear of the nation, which is the same name as the former armed wing of the ANC.
He was jailed in 2021 for contempt of court after refusing to testify before a panel probing financial sleaze and cronyism under his presidency. His jailing sparked protests and riots that left more than 350 people dead.
He spent two months in prison before being released on medical grounds. That release was later ruled illegal, but he did not return to prison due to overcrowding in the system.
The ANC faces national elections next year viewed by many as the most competitive since it came to power in 1994.
[August 11 2023 ]
Former South African President Jacob Zuma was taken back to prison on Friday after his parole was ruled invalid, only to be released again within two hours under a new program to reduce overcrowding in jails.
[August 2 2023 ]
South Africa’s former President Jacob Zuma has returned from Russia where he has been receiving medical treatment.
“The check-up and observations went well,”
The Constitutional Court had ruled in 2021 that Zuma had been granted medical parole unlawfully.
The prisons department has now given the 81-year-old until Friday to submit reasons why he should not serve out the rest of his 15-month sentence.
[July 14 2023 ]
South Africa’s ex-President Jacob Zuma travelled to Russia last week for health reasons, his foundation says.
“He will be returning to the country once his doctors have completed their treatment,” its statement said.
The announcement comes a day after the Constitutional Court upheld a ruling that Zuma was granted medical parole unlawfully in September 2021.
At the end of last week, Zuma was in Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe, attending a conference on carbon credits where he represented a Belarusian company.
South African president cleared of wrongdoing in scandal over $580,000 in cash stolen from his farm
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa has been cleared of wrongdoing by a public watchdog over a scandal involving the theft of more than half a million dollars in U.S. currency that had been stashed in a sofa at his farm.
[March 12 2023 ]
South Africa’s anti-corruption watchdog says there is no evidence of wrongdoing by President Cyril Ramaphosa linked to the theft of $580,000 (£482,000) – possibly more – in cash from his farm.
[December 31 2022]
[December 19 2022]
The South African president, Cyril Ramaphosa, has been re-elected as leader of the ruling African National Congress (ANC) for a second five-year term in a party leadership contest.
Votes casts by delegates at the party conference gave Ramaphosa a clear victory over his rival, Zweli Mkhize, a former party treasurer and health minister.
[November 22 2022 ]
Zuma still has the option of approaching the Constitutional Court, the highest judicial instance in the land, to appeal the latest ruling.
[November 21 2023
Former South African President Jacob Zuma, according to the law, has not completed serving his sentence,” the Supreme Court of Appeal has said in a unanimous ruling that the former president be returned to prison in Estcourt, in the state of KwaZulu-Natal.
[June 2 2022]
Arthur Fraser said the case related to the alleged attempted theft of $4m (£3.2m) in 2020 at one of the president’s properties and the alleged efforts to conceal what happened.
Arthur Fraser, who ran the country’s State Security Agency (SSA) between 2016 and 2018, has said he has handed photographs, bank account details and video footage over to the police.
In a statement, he alleged that criminals broke into a farm in Limpopo province in February 2020 to steal more than $4m. They were then detained and interrogated on the property and paid to keep quiet about what had happened, the statement alleges.
Before he became deputy president in 2014, Mr Ramaphosa was a prominent businessman with stakes in mining, telecoms, media, beverage and fast food companies.
In 2014, he declared to parliament that he owned $5m in shares as well as 30 townhouses. But it is widely believed that his wealth is greater than that.
Mr Ramaphosa said “there is no basis for the claims of criminal conduct”.
Mr Fraser is seen by some as an ally of former President Jacob Zuma.
Some believe the allegations could be linked to wrangles within the ruling African National Congress (ANC) ahead of a leadership race in December.
[Apeil 10 2022]
Last month the Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) torpedoed Zuma’s latest bid to have lead prosecutor Billy Downer taken off the case after accusing him of bias and leaking of confidential information to a journalist in contravention of the national prosecution act, among other complaints.
The SCA dismissed the application for leave to appeal on the grounds that there is no reasonable prospect of success and there is no other compelling reason why an appeal should be heard.
The spokesman of the Jacob Zuma Foundation, Mzwanele Manyi told a press briefing that Zuma’s instructions to his legal team to institute private prosecution “will now be put into operation in the next few days”.
[March 10 2022]
Judge Raymond Zondo, who found evidence of corruption under South Africa’s previous administration, will become the country’s next Chief Justice.
[February 5 2022 ]
Zuma’s lawyers are appealing the court’s rejection of his application for prosecutor Billy Downer to be removed, saying he is biased and unfit to lead the prosecution.
[December 15 2021]
The High Court in Pretoria ruled that the decision by the head of the correctional service Arthur Fraser, a known ally of Zuma, to release the former leader on medical parole was “reviewed, declared unlawful, and set aside”.
Lawyers representing Zuma have appealed against the court order, so there is no immediate prospect of him returning to prison.
[November 7 2021]
On November 7 2021, ANC members gathered at the Moses Mabhida regional offices in Pietermaritzburg to protest President Cyril Ramaphosa’s leadership.
[November 4 2021]
African National Congress got less than 50 percent of ballots cast in local government elections. The ANC won 46 percent of the vote, down from 54 percent in the last municipal elections five years ago. The ANC lost a majority in eThekwini metro, in former President Jacob Zuma’s stronghold province of KwaZulu-Natal. The local polls may set the stage for the country’s evolution into a richer multiparty democracy, moving past the dream of a “rainbow nation” and into the reality of balancing myriad competing interests.
[October 27 2021]
South Africa’s ex-president Jacob Zuma made his first public appearance to lay charges against a chief state prosecutor. Zuma is accused of pocketing bribes from French defence giant Thales and faces 16 charges of fraud, graft and racketeering. The next hearing is set for October 26.
[October 14 2021]
Zuma addressed his supporters through an audio message at a prayer event in Durban, where many of his supporters arrived in packed buses.
[October 2 2021]
JOHANNESBURG: The corruption trial of South Africa’s jailed ex-president Jacob Zuma resumes on October 4 2021.
Zuma faces 16 charges of fraud, graft and racketeering related to a 1999 purchase of fighter jets, patrol boats and military gear from five European arms firms when he was South Africa’s deputy president.
He is accused of pocketing four million rand ($277,000) in bribes from one of the firms, French defense giant Thales, which has been charged with corruption and money laundering.
[September 14 2021]
Former South African President Jacob Zuma is back home after he was discharged from hospital, local media report, where he is expected to serve the rest of his jail term for contempt of court.
He spent his first night at his Nkandla home in KwaZulu-Natal after his release from the hospital in Gauteng.
[September 7 2021]
In a majority 7-2 decision, the Constitutional Court dismissed his arguments as “litigious skullduggery” as Zuma sought to have his prison term set aside. The sentence was handed down in June after the former South African leader failed to testify at an inquiry probing corruption during his nine-year rule
“The majority emphatically reject any suggestion that litigants can be allowed to butcher of their own will a judicial process which in all respects has been carried out with the utmost degree of regularity, only to later plead the absent victim,” Justice Sisi Khampepe said.
[September 14 2021]
The Democratic Alliance will apply to the court to overturn and set aside Correctional Services National Commissioner Arthur Fraser’s decision to grant corruption-accused former president Jacob Zuma medical parole after the Medical Parole Advisory Board advised against it.
It emerged on September 6 2021 that Zuma, serving a 15-month sentence for contempt of court, was granted medical parole. Fraser admitted earlier this week that he overruled the Medical Parole Advisory Board.
[September 5 2021]
Jacob Zuma, 79, who had surgery in hospital for an unspecified problem in August, was given medical parole following a report by the South African Department of Correctional Services, it said in a statement. It did not say anything about what Zuma was suffering from and if his health had worsened since surgery on August 6. Zuma still faces a court case on September 9, pending a medical report on his health, to answer for 16 counts of fraud, graft and racketeering during a 1999 arms deal.
[September 4 2021]
Former president Jacob Zuma has refused to be examined by National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) appointed doctors because he is tired of his claims of ill-health being treated with distrust, his foundation says.
Earlier this month, and with the full agreement of Zuma’s advocate Dali Mpofu, KwaZulu-Natal High Court in Pietermaritzburg Judge Piet Koen ordered that the State “may grant a medical practitioner of its choice to examine Mr Zuma to assess his ability to stand trial for corruption and for that doctor to be a witness, if necessary”.
[August 17 2021 ]
Jacob Zuma Foundation spokesperson Mzwanele Manyi has taken a swipe at the NPA for asking that the former President be taken for a second medical observation.
President Zuma is not in some spaza shop medical environment. He is in a government run hospital. We cannot have a situation in this country where a hospital that is state run, when it pronounces that somebody is not well, some private individual who’s got some mysterious agenda to come and second guess that, is insulting the professional integrity of the doctors that are dealing with President Zuma.’
Africa-Press – South-Africa. Johan van der Walt, the main witness and author of the forensic report in the corruption trial against former president Jacob Zuma, has died. He was listed as the main witness in Zuma’s corruption trial which is expected to commence in the Pietermaritzburg High Court. Jacob Zuma, who early this month was moved from prison to a health facility, has undergone surgery and will stay in hospital for further procedures.
“Mr Zuma underwent a surgical procedure on Saturday, 14 August 2021, with other procedures scheduled for the coming days,” the correctional services department announced in a statement, saying it could not predict a discharge date at yet.
[August 10 2021]
High Court Judge Piet Koen granted the postponement to September 9 but ordered Zuma’s team to produce a medical report by August 20. He was moved to a hospital for medical observation. Prison officials did not provide details on his condition.
[August 6 2921]
A routine checkup indicated that Zuma should be admitted to hospital less than a week before he is due in court for a separate graft trial.
The Department of Correctional Services “can confirm that former president Jacob Zuma has today, 6 August 2021, been admitted to an outside hospital for medical observation,” it said in a statement.
Zuma, 79, is scheduled to attend the resumption of a long-running corruption trial on Aug. 10.
The hearing will include a plea to drop 16 charges of fraud, graft and racketeering against him related to the 1999 purchase of fighter jets, patrol boats and equipment from five European arms firms when he was deputy president.
He is accused of taking bribes from one of the firms, French defense giant Thales, which has been charged with corruption and money laundering.
Proceedings have been repeatedly postponed for more than a decade, sparking accusations of delaying tactics.
[July 22 2021]
Former President Jacob Zuma was granted compassionate leave to attend the funeral of his younger brother.
He was back in prison by the afternoon.
[July 20 2021]
Jacob Zuma’s corruption trial in South Africa for an arms deal made in the 1990s has been postponed until 10 August.
[July 19 2021]
Former South African president Jacob Zuma appeared by video link in court to seek a further delay in his corruption trial. Zuma’s lawyers sought to have the case postponed by up to three weeks because of the unrest and pandemic, giving time for the trial to resume physically. Judge Piet Koen adjourned the case and said he would make a ruling on Tuesday at 0800 GMT.
[8:22 am]
The trial of former South African president Jacob Zuma is set to continue in virtual session. .The hearing will focus on Zuma attorneys’ push to recuse chief prosecutor Billy Downer for allegedly leaking information to the media.
The prosecutors “will argue vigorously for the application to be dismissed,”
Zuma’s trial started in May following numerous postponements and delays by his legal team to have the charges dropped.
The 79-year-old Zuma appeared in person for the opening and said he was innocent. Thales also denied any wrongdoing, and the next hearing was set for July 19.
[July 17 2021]
There are two clear and opposing forces in the ANC. One is headed by President Ramaphosa, who his supporters say is slowly rebuilding state institutions and accountability after a decade of corruption and looting during the Zuma administration. The other, known as the RET faction, is sympathetic and fiercely loyal to the former president. They were perhaps beneficiaries of this “state capture” and feel cornered by the momentum gained by the Ramaphosa faction. They want a change of guard, urgently and so stand to benefit if the current president is weakened.
[July 15 2021]
Minister of Defence and Military Veterans Ms Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula and Chief of the South African National Defence Force General Rudzani Maphwanya briefed the leaders of political parties on the deployment of the SANDF at key commercial centres in KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng.
Defence Minister Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula said she had submitted a request for the deployment of 25,000 soldiers to the two provinces hit by violence – KwaZulu-Natal, where Durban is located, and Gauteng, which includes Johannesburg.
[July 15 2021]
South African Police Minister Bheki Cele vowed to curb the continuing violence that erupted over the weekend.
“We cannot allow anyone to make a mockery of our democratic state'”
[July 13 2021]
President Cyril Ramaphosa addressed the nation on Monday evening, July 12 2021; and called on communities to remain calm and to stop undermining the rule of law.
President Cyril Ramaphosa called for calm July 11 2021, urging protesters to demonstrate peacefully.
“People have been intimidated and threatened, and some have even been hurt,” Ramaphosa said.
Unrest began last week after Zuma handed himself in to begin a 15-month sentence. Several people have been killed and dozens arrested.
Zuma is seeking immediate release from Estcourt prison, pending the court’s final decision in the case of rescission he brought in a bid to reverse the court’s finding against him.
The court began hearing arguments for and against rescinding its order of Tuesday June 29. All 11 judges who presided over that matter found Zuma in contempt of court. The majority sentenced him to 15 months in prison.
Advocate Tembeka Ngcukaitobi, representing the commission , said there was no apology or remorse from Zuma. “He has told you many times he will not appear before a biased chairperson,” said Ngcukaitobi. You are told to revisit your order. No contrition, no apology, nothing. Just brazen contempt,” Ngcukaitobi concluded, highlighting a degree of urgency in deciding the matter and providing certainty in the dispute.”
[July 7 2021 Arrested ]
Zuma turned himself in: his lawyers asked the acting chief justice to issue directives stopping the police from arresting him, claiming there would be a “prejudice to his life.”
The top court met late Wednesday, according to local reports, but apparently rejected the request.
[ July 12 –into jail? rescission? ]
Police Minister Bheki Cele told South African news website News24 he believed the police were being thrown under the bus by South Africa’s courts, and that they had “muddied” a “very clear” judgement by allowing Mr Zuma’s legal bids to continue. Appeals to Constitutional Court judgements are not normally allowed.
His spokesman added on July 7 2021: “If we don’t hear anything from the Constitutional Court – which we haven’t heard so far – we have until midnight tonight to execute the order.”
05/07/2021 Jacob Zuma, the former South African president, failed to turn himself in before an arrest deadline. The judge presiding over his case said that he would announce a decision on July 9 2021 about whether to grant the interdict.
[July 3 2021]
South Africa’s constitutional court has agreed to hear former President Jacob Zuma’s challenge to rescind an order sentencing him to jail for 15 months on contempt charges.
The constitutional court sentenced Zuma to 15 months in jail on Tuesday for failing to appear at the corruption inquiry led by Deputy Chief Justice Raymond Zondo in February.
.
On July 3 2021, many marched alongside Zuma in his hometown of Nkandla.
“They can give Zuma 15 months … or 100 months. He’s not going to serve even one day or one minute of that,” his son Edward Zuma told the news agency Reuters at the gathering. “They would have to kill me before they put their hands on him.”
Zuma, who did not speak to his supporters but is expected to address them on Sunday, wore a black and gold tropical shirt as he walked through the crowd, but no mask. He was guarded by men dressed as traditional warriors from his Zulu nation, wearing leopard skins and holding spears with oval ox-hide shields.
[July 1 2021]
Two independent sources have confirmed that Zuma has briefed Dali Mpofu SC and that he would be filing his papers to the highest court today – an application for rescission of judgment, said one source.
[July 1 2021 : to hand himself ]
It was a quiet day outside the Nkandla homestead of convicted former president Jacob Zuma. MKMVA[Umkhonto we Sizwe Military Veterans’ Association] base commander Mfanfuti Gumede gave a media briefing but would not divulge Zuma’s whereabouts.
When asked if the MKMVA would defend Zuma from being arrested by police, he said: “We will see when we get there. We will see what they want to do.”
[June 29 2021 5 days ]
South Africa’s former President Jacob Zuma has been sentenced to 15 months in jail by the country’s highest court.
He has been given five days to hand himself in to police. Failing that, the police minister must order his arrest.
The sentence comes after the Constitutional Court found him guilty of contempt for defying its order to appear at an inquiry into corruption while he was president.
The former president was not in court to hear the majority ruling and has repeatedly declared that he was the victim of a giant political conspiracy.
In a separate legal matter, Mr Zuma pleaded not guilty last month in his corruption trial involving a $5bn (£3bn) arms deal from the 1990s.
[June 6 2021 to plead June 26 ]
JOHANNESBURG – Former President Jacob Zuma’s trial has been postponed until the 26 May in order for a plea to be recorded.
Judge Piet Koen has granted Zuma’s new lawyers time to file his plea.
Zuma and French company Thales made a short appearance in the Pietermaritzburg High Court on charges of corruption, racketeering and money laundering stemming from the 1999 Arms deal
His legal counsel Advocate Thabani Masuku said his client was ready for the trial.
“The client has been ready to proceed with the trial to the extent that you’d want a witness in the box to return on a specific date.”
[May 16 2021
The National Prosecuting Authority says it remains ready to start the corruption trial of former President Jacob Zuma on May 17.
Former President Jacob Zuma will return to the Pietermaritzburg High Court on May 17 2021 for what is said to be the start of his corruption trial.
Zuma will most likely seek a postponement in order to get a new legal team after parting ways with his lawyers in April.
[May 10 2021 trial May 17 -postponement sought ]
Zuma and his co-accused French arms manufacturer Thales face multiple charges of fraud, corruption and racketeering in connection with South Africa’s multi-billion rand arms deal of the 1990s.
Kgoroeadira did not give a reason for their withdrawal when asked: “I am not going to discuss the reasons for the withdrawal.”
This is the third law firm to have parted ways with Zuma recently.
Lugisani Mantsha Attorneys terminated its mandate last October.
Just recently, Eric Mabuza Attorneys also withdraw their services in Zuma’s upcoming fraud and corruption trial set to be heard this month.
[April 28 2021]
South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa is testifying as a witness before a long-running inquiry into allegations of corruption under his predecessor Jacob Zuma as head of the ANC. His testimony is due to last two days.
The State Capture Commission of inquiry was set up in 2018 to investigate corruption in state institutions.
[April 24 2021]
Lawyers acting for former president Jacob Zuma in the corruption trial due to start in May filed a formal notice of withdrawal in the Pietermaritzburg High Court on April 21 2021
Eric Mabuza filed the notice as Zuma’s attorney of record, but did not provide reasons for the withdrawal.
The Supreme Court of Appeal ruled he was not entitled to state funds for his corruption trial legal costs, and ordered him to pay back R25m already incurred during the legal proceedings.
The trial was set down from May 17 to June 30 and is expected to be lengthy as there are more than 200 witnesses on the state’s list.
Zuma is accused of receiving an annual bribe of R500,000 from Thales for protection from an investigation into the controversial arms deal. The alleged bribe was facilitated by Schabir Shaik, who was Zuma’s former financial adviser.
Hue and Cri 