South Africa

South Africa’s ANC expels ex-President Jacob Zuma

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Former South African President Jacob Zuma has been expelled from the African National Congress (ANC) party, where he had been a member for many decades, public broadcaster SABC reported Sunday. Zuma, 82, who has been an ANC party member for 60 years, was found guilty of founding and campaigning for the uMkhonto weSizwe (MK) party, which obtained 58 seats in parliamentary elections in May, it said. The broadcaster said it was in possession of documents confirming Zuma’s expulsion. The ANC has, however, not yet issued a statement regarding the expulsion.  The report said the ANC’s National Disciplinary Committee found Zuma guilty of prejudicing the integrity of the party by acting in collaboration with uMkhonto weSizwe in a manner contrary to the aims, policies and objectives of the ANC.  Zuma, who governed the country as president for nearly a decade, was also the former president of the ANC, which ruled South Africa since 1994 without a coalition. The ANC, which liberated South Africans from white minority rule and racial segregation, used to secure more than 60% in all elections since 1994, barring 2019, when its parliamentary share dipped to 57.5%. But it lost its parliamentary majority in the May elections, getting 40% of the vote and receiving 159 seats of the 400-seat parliament. The party had to reach coalition deals with nine other political parties to form a government of national unity. In January, the ANC suspended Zuma, in what experts described as a sign of a growing rift between him and current President Cyril Ramaphosa. Zuma now has 21 days to appeal the judgment with the ANC’s National Committee of Appeal.

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Armed attack in South Africa kills 8

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In an armed attack on an entertainment venue in South Africa’s North West province, 8 people have been killed. Brigadier Sabata Mokgwabone, North West Province Police Spokesperson, reported that 8 individuals, including one woman, were killed in the attack on the drinking establishment near the town of Orkney. Mokgwabone explained that the attackers, who were looking for members of the local Basotho community, fired randomly at the venue. Seven victims died at the scene, while one succumbed to injuries at the hospital. The attackers stole money from the venue’s cash register, as well as the security camera system and a pool table. Mokgwabone also noted that they took customers’ cell phones before fleeing. He called for witnesses to assist in identifying and locating the suspects, whose identities and numbers remain unknown.

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South Africa: DA wants ANC punished for Ramaphosa speech

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South Africa’s Democratic Alliance took the African National Congress, the party it co-governs the country with, to court Thursday over a preelection speech in May given by President Cyril Ramaphosa. It’s an early sign of friction between the new coalition partners. The court papers were submitted to the Electoral Court by the DA in May before it entered into a coalition with the ANC, but it decided to still go ahead with the case. The DA asked the court to deduct 1% of the vote received by the ANC in the May 29 national election and fine Ramaphosa, the ANC leader, $10,900 and his party $5,450, over what it argues was a presidential address that was used for election campaigning and amounted to an abuse of office. The ANC responded Thursday by calling the DA’s legal action “frivolous and unwarranted” and said the president was following the constitution when he made the speech. Ramaphosa gave the speech three days before the election in his capacity as head of state, but used parts of it to highlight what he said were ANC successes during its 30-year rule as South Africa’s governing party. The DA said that election rules don’t allow him to engage in party politics and campaign for the ANC when he speaks as the president. The ANC lost its long-held majority in the historic election when it received just 40% of the vote. That forced it to create a coalition government for the first time to run Africa’s most industrialized country. The DA — the second biggest party with 21% of the vote — is one of seven parties represented in Ramaphosa’s Cabinet despite previously being the ANC’s fiercest critic. The coalition, referred to as a “government of national unity,” created a new political landscape for South Africa after the ANC had governed since the end of the apartheid system of white minority rule in 1994. The election was the first time in South Africa’s young democracy that more people voted for other parties, stripping the organization once led by Nelson Mandela of its dominance. The left-leaning ANC and the centrist DA are the key parties in the coalition but them working together was seen as unlikely given their stark ideological differences and history of opposition to each other. They have largely managed to project a sense of unity over the last month since the coalition was agreed.

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