Johannesburg: South Africa’s High Court will hear on Friday a bid to disqualify former president Jacob Zuma in a politically charged legal battle aimed at reigniting tensions ahead of the tightest election in decades.
The 82-year-old Zuma is fronting a new opposition party in the May 29 general election, which is likely to spark unrest.
But election authorities said the corrupt politician should be barred from the 2021 race for defying a court order.
The Constitutional Court in Johannesburg is said to have ruled after a lower court sided with Zuma in April.
Legal experts say it could take several days to issue a decision.
The incident, which took place just weeks before what is expected to be the most competitive vote since the advent of democracy in 1994, upset some observers.
Zuma’s arrest in 2021 led to riots, riots and looting that left more than 350 people dead.
There is fear of repetition.
“Zuma’s supporters are threatening violence again this year,” said Zakhele Ndlowu, a professor of politics at the University of KwaZulu-Natal.
Many in the former president’s camp consider the Constitutional Court to be partisan.
The same court sentenced Zuma to 15 months in prison in 2021 after he refused to testify to a panel investigating financial corruption and embezzlement during his presidency.
The chairman of the assembly is now the chief judge of the court.
Zuma’s lawyer said the five other judges on the bench who had convicted his client should be considered “bilaterally tainted”.
If that is the case, the court will not have enough members to handle the case.
This is based on an interpretation of a constitutional provision that prohibits anyone sentenced to prison for more than 12 months from serving in parliament.
The ban was lifted five years after the end of the sentence.
The Electoral Commission (IEC) has argued that this rule applies to Zuma.
But the veteran politician’s lawyer argued that it was not successful in the election court, because the sentence did not allow him to appeal and the sentence was reduced.
Ben Winks, a lawyer specializing in constitutional law, said the decision was a surprise and that the IEC had legal procedures for appeals.
“The wording of the Constitution … don’t say how long you have served,” he said.
Zuma was released on medical parole two months after his sentence.
His new party uMkhonto we Sizwe (MK) came out of nowhere to become one of the main candidates in the election.
Due to Zuma’s popularity, the ruling African National Congress (ANC), the president’s former political home, is expected to lose its vote share.
This could push the ANC below 50 percent in national opinion polls for the first time.
A short parliamentary majority would force it to find a coalition partner to stay in power.
The ANC is struggling in the polls because of a weak economy and corruption and mismanagement.
An Ipsos poll last month had 40.2 percent, the liberal Democratic Union 21.9 percent, and the left-wing Economic Freedom Fighters 11.5 percent.
MK followed with 8.4 percent.
The IEC, which announced the complaint last month, said it had no intention of “involving itself in political games” but sought “clarity” to “ensure free and fair elections”.
Court documents explain that if Zuma is declared ineligible, it will not affect the logistics of the election.
Zuma’s name can still appear on the ballot and cannot be printed again, but he will not be considered elected after the vote.
South Africans are called upon to elect a new president, who then appoints the president.
