The Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) confirms that former president Jacob Zuma will not be on the ballot on election day, May 29.
IEC's chairperson Mosotho Moepya confirmed this during a media briefing on Thursday at the commission's office in Centurion, Pretoria.
Moepya said Zuma's increasingly popular Umkhonto weSizwe (MK) Party was informed that the former president will not contest the elections. He noted that MKP will remain on the ballot.
Zuma is among the eight candidates that the IEC confirmed to be disapproved. "In the case of former president Zuma, yes, we did receive an objection, which has been upheld," Moepya said.
This is after MKP announced Zuma as the number one candidate to the National Assembly notwithstanding his criminal record.
Zuma was sentenced to 15 months in prison by the Constitutional Court after a contempt of court conviction in 2021. This resulted in the July Unrest that swept through Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal (KZN).
According to Section 47 of the constitution, any person who has been sentenced to more than 12 months is prohibited from becoming a member of parliament (MP).
This means that Zuma will not contest a seat in Parliament.
Early this month, the MKP Youth President Bonginkosi Khanyile said all hell would break loose if Zuma and the newly formed party were not allowed on the ballot paper come election day in May.
"If they remove the MKP and President Zuma from the ballot as the face of the campaign and try to take our rights, there won't be elections in South Africa," he said during a media briefing in Johannesburg.
He said they were prepared and fearless, and they were willing to lay down their lives if Zuma and the MKP were removed from the ballot paper.
Meanwhile, President Cyril Ramaphosa has sent a stern warning to those threatening violence ahead of the elections that they will be arrested by law enforcement agencies.
IOL Politics