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Agence France-Presse

South Africa’s ruling ANC on Monday expelled its former leader, ex-president Jacob Zuma, for leading a rival party into elections following disciplinary proceedings.
The African National Congress, which lost its absolute parliamentary majority for the first time in May largely due to Zuma’s defection, said the veteran politician’s conduct was “irreconcilable” with its constitution.
“Former President Jacob Zuma has actively impugned the integrity of the ANC and campaigned to dislodge the ANC from power while claiming that he had not yet severed his membership,” ANC Secretary General Fikile Mbalula told a press conference.
He was thus “expelled” from the party, Mbalula said.
The ANC first suspended the scandal-tainted ex-leader in January, after he endorsed the newly formed uMkhonto weSizwe (MK).
MK cut into the ANC’s share of votes in the May 29 elections, taking third place with 14.5 per cent.
The ANC managed 40 per cent in the May vote – its weakest score since it came to power three decades ago to replace the apartheid government.
The result forced it to form a coalition government with nine other parties. MK was left out and is leading the opposition, with 58 lawmakers in the 400-seat National Assembly.
MK, a populist, radical leftist party, initially disputed the election result.

“His platform is dangerous, appeals to extremist instincts in our body politic and riles up a political base that may foment social unrest,” Mbalula said of Zuma’s MK.
Zuma has been barred from serving as an MP because of a 2021 conviction for contempt of court.
After news of his coming expulsion was leaked, the party lashed out at the “grave injustices against its leader”.
“An examination of the leaked document reveals that the disciplinary process was not only profoundly flawed, but also conducted in a manner akin to a kangaroo court,” said MK spokesman Nhlamulo Ndhlela.
Zuma will engage legal counsel to determine the course of action, he said.
The former president has 21 days to appeal the decision.

Zuma joined the ANC via its youth league as a teenager in 1959. Elected South African president in 2009, he was forced from office in 2018 under the cloud of corruption allegations and was replaced by long-term rival, President Cyril Ramaphosa.
The charismatic and outspoken 82-year-old still carries considerable political clout in South Africa, even enjoying support within some factions of the ANC.
Many believed his political career would end when he was sentenced to 15 months in jail in June 2021 after refusing to testify to a panel probing financial corruption and cronyism under his presidency.
His imprisonment triggered riots that sparked South Africa’s worst episode of violence since the fall of apartheid, leaving more than 350 dead.
He spent only two months behind bars and was released for health reasons, after which Ramaphosa commuted his sentence.


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South Africa’s ex-president Jacob Zuma expelled from ruling ANC for leading rival party

Former South African President Jacob Zuma has been expelled from the African National Congress. Photo: EPA-EFE

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uMkhonto weSizwe (MK) party leader and South Africa’s former president Jacob Zuma addresses his supporters outside the Johannesburg High Court in Johannesburg on June 03. Photo: AFP

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DA leader John Steenhuisen and South African President Cyril Ramaphosa. Photo: South African GCIS via AP

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South Africans closely following the announcement of the election results in Johannesburg on June 2. Photo: AP

A woman wears a shirt featuring former South African president and MK leader Jacob Zuma to cast her vote at a polling station in Umlazi on May 29. Photo: AFP

Supporters of former South African president Jacob Zuma, protesting against the court decision to sentence him to 15 months in jail, walk to his home in Nkandla, South Africa, on July 3, 2021. Photo: Reuters

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Former South African president Jacob Zuma speaks to his supporters during the launch of the election manifesto of his new political party in Soweto on May 18. Photo: Reuters

A voter wearing a shirt with the image of ex-South African leader Jacob Zuma marks her ballots in Umlazi on Wednesday. Photo: AFP

Former South African president Jacob Zuma shakes hands with supporters in Nkandla on Wednesday. Photo: AFP

South Africa’s ex-president Jacob Zuma expelled from ruling ANC for leading rival party

.css-1mniedq{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;}Under the ANC’s constitution, Zuma can appeal his expulsion within 21 days

Under the ANC’s constitution, Zuma can appeal his expulsion within 21 days