Former South African President Jacob Zuma looks on during a press conference at The Maslow Hotel in Sandton, Johannesburg commercial hub on October 22, 2022. – During the press conferecnce Zuma addressed his time in jail, the corruption trial against him and his plans to be elected as the African National Congress (ANC)’s national chairperson in December 2022. (Photo by Phill Magakoe / AFP)
Updated December 16, 2023
Former South African president Jacob Zuma, who was forced out of office over corruption allegations, said Saturday he would not vote for the ruling African National Congress in national elections in 2024.
With the party that led the decades-old struggle against apartheid fast losing support, the 81-year-old Zuma launched a bitter new attack on current president and ANC leader Cyril Ramaphosa.
He said he would vote for a small radical left-wing party and would refuse to campaign for the ANC.
“It would be a betrayal to campaign for the ANC of Ramaphosa,” Zuma said in a statement read at a press conference.
Zuma slammed what he called “the death of democratically elected structures”, “the role of money” in determining votes and “the suspected fraudulent manipulation” of ANC conference decisions.
He said it was “widely expected that the ANC will lose the national election for the first time since 1994”.
Zuma said he would vote for the small Umkhonto We Sizwe(MK) Party, which was only registered this year and is named after the old armed wing of the ANC.
Zuma, who was president from 2009 to 2018, was driven out of office over corruption accusations and Ramaphosa, his deputy at the time, took over.
Despite the controversy, Zuma has retained significant influence in the party.
Zuma was sentenced to 15 months in June 2021 after refusing to testify before a panel probing financial corruption and cronyism under his presidency — but was freed on medical parole just two months into his term.
His jailing sparked protests, riots and looting that left more than 350 dead in the worst violence to hit the country since the end of apartheid.
