He was once the most powerful man in South Africa, the leader of the liberation movement that toppled the racist apartheid regime. He was a charismatic populist, a master of political survival, a hero to millions of his loyal supporters.
But now, Jacob Zuma is a pariah, and has been kicked out of the party he devoted his life to, after launching a rival faction that threatens to split the ANC and undermine its electoral prospects.
The ANC announced its decision to suspend Zuma on Monday, after he refused to toe the party line and vote for it in the upcoming general election. Instead, he endorsed a new party, uMkhonto we Sizwe (MK), which means “spear of the nation” in Zulu.
The name is a deliberate provocation, as it is the same as the ANC’s former military wing, which Zuma served in as a young guerrilla fighter against the white minority rule. Zuma is using his past as a freedom fighter to appeal to his base, especially the rural poor and the Zulu ethnic group.
But the ANC is not buying it. In a harsh letter, the party accused Zuma of tarnishing the “glorious legacy of the armed struggle” by using it for his own selfish agenda. The party said that Zuma and his allies were in “conflict with our values and principles”, and that they would be expelled from the ANC.
The letter was signed by Fikile Mbalula, the ANC’s secretary-general, who was once a staunch Zuma loyalist, but later turned against him. Mbalula is now a close ally of Cyril Ramaphosa, the current president of South Africa and the leader of the ANC.
Ramaphosa succeeded Zuma in 2018, after a bitter power struggle that exposed the deep divisions within the ANC. Ramaphosa vowed to clean up the government and the party, which had been plagued by corruption and mismanagement under Zuma’s rule.
Zuma’s presidency, from 2009 to 2018, was marred by scandal after scandal. He was accused of allowing his cronies to loot the state coffers, in a scheme known as “state capture”. He was also charged with corruption over a 1999 arms deal, which he denies.
He was eventually forced to resign by his own party, and later jailed in 2021 for contempt of court, after he refused to appear before a judicial inquiry into state capture. He was released on medical parole in September 2021, but his legal woes are far from over.
Zuma has always maintained his innocence, and claimed that he was the victim of a political witch-hunt by his enemies. He has also accused Ramaphosa of being a puppet of the West, and of betraying the ANC’s radical agenda.
Zuma’s new party, MK, is seen as a vehicle for his revenge, and a challenge to Ramaphosa’s authority. MK claims to represent the true spirit of the ANC, and to champion the interests of the poor and the marginalized. It also promises to nationalize the mines and the land, and to fight against the “neoliberal” policies of Ramaphosa.
But the ANC says that MK is nothing but a “splinter group” that seeks to “erode the support base of the ANC”. The party says that MK has no legitimacy, no vision, and no future.
The ANC is facing a tough election this year, as it faces growing discontent and disillusionment among the voters, who are frustrated by the slow pace of economic and social transformation, and the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.
The ANC is still the dominant party in South Africa, but it has lost ground in recent years, especially in the urban areas, where the opposition parties have made inroads. The ANC is hoping to retain its majority in the national and provincial legislatures, but it may have to form coalitions with smaller parties to govern.
The emergence of MK may further dent the ANC’s chances, as it may siphon off some of its supporters, especially in Zuma’s home province of KwaZulu-Natal, which is the most populous and the most contested in the country.
Zuma’s betrayal may be the final nail in the coffin of his political career, but it may also be a serious blow to the ANC, the party that he once led, and that he now seeks to destroy.