Zuma’s jail sentence disqualifies him from running in elections: summary

What we know

• Former South African President Jacob Zuma cannot stand for election to the National Assembly. This follows a court ruling on May 20 by the country’s top court
• The constitutional court ruled that Zuma’s 15-month jail sentence for contempt of court in 2021 prohibits him from standing in the May 29 election as established by law
• The constitution indicates that anyone given a prison sentence of 12 months or longer is prohibited from holding a parliamentary seat.
• This means that Zuma who is now campaigning on the ticket of the uMkhonto we Sizwe (MK) party after falling out with the African National Congress (ANC) is out of the race. Meanwhile, his party leadership insists his campaigns will continue
• Local opinion polls have suggested that Zuma’s party MK poses a threat to ANC’s majority seat in parliament as he stands a chance of gaining his seat in KwaZulu-Natal where he is popular

What they said

President Cyril Ramaphosa has dispelled concerns about a possible eruption of violence following the court’s ruling. "I'm not concerned about this instigating violence." "We have a rule of law in South Africa that governs us. Once a constitutional court has decided, that is it and should there be any threat of violence our security forces are ready," he said. Some political experts have suggested that there could be threats of disruption from Zuma’s following. "In light of the reaction to the arrest of Zuma in 2021, one has to fear that there could be some major effort by those same networks to destabilise this election," Daryl Glaser, a politics professor at the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg, told Reuters.