South Africa ANC apparently decides to expel former President Zuma from the party
The South African ruling party, the African National Congress (ANC), has apparently decided to expel former President Jacob Zuma. The ANC has not yet officially confirmed the decision.
29.07.2024, 05:23
SDA
According to an internal ANC disciplinary committee document, which was reported by several South African media outlets on Sunday and was also made available to the AFP news agency, 82-year-old Zuma can appeal against the expulsion within the next three weeks.
Zuma's party membership had already been suspended in January after Zuma supported the newly founded uMkhonto weSizwe (MK) party. MK won 14.5 percent of the vote in the parliamentary elections in May - and cost the ANC a considerable share of the vote. The ANC, led by Zuma's successor Cyril Ramaphosa, achieved its worst election result since the end of apartheid with just over 40 percent and missed out on an absolute majority for the first time. The party has been governing in a broad coalition since mid-June.
Over 60 years in the party
If Zuma does not successfully challenge the expulsion, this would mean the end of six and a half decades of party membership: Zuma had already joined the ANC's youth organization in 1959, as a teenager.
Zuma was president of South Africa from 2009 to 2018. He was forced to resign after several scandals, and a report published in 2022 revealed that he was heavily involved in corruption cases.
When Zuma was sentenced to 15 years in prison in 2021, this triggered a wave of unrest, riots and looting with more than 350 deaths. Due to the conviction, he was not allowed to stand for the parliamentary elections in May, but remained the influential leader of his new party MK.
