Former President Zuma’s revenge knocks out Mandela’s heirs in South Africa

In 2018, the leadership of the African National Congress (ANC) forced the resignation of comrade Jacob Zuma as president of South Africa. The historic and populist leader was then subjected to intense crossfire due to his involvement in various serious cases of corruption. Six years later, Zuma has exacted revenge: his new party, created in December, has achieved a spectacular 14.6% in the general elections held this Wednesday, causing the collapse of the ANC and placing it as the third political force in the country. To remain in power, Nelson Mandela’s political heirs now face the need to make agreements with other political forces, opening a new era in the young South African democracy.

The abrupt fall into the void of the ANC represents a real earthquake in South Africa. With almost 100% of the votes counted, it only obtained 40.2% of the ballots compared to 57.5% in 2019. It is a decrease of 17 points for the party that had dominated the space without discussion and with successive absolute majorities. politician since 1994, when the first multiparty elections were held with Mandela at the head of his candidacy. But their vitola of fighters against apartheid It’s not enough anymore. The deterioration of the living conditions of millions of South Africans due to high unemployment rates, increased crime or constant water and electricity cuts, in a context of widespread corruption, have exhausted their credit.

A closer look at the election results reveals the origin of the bleeding of votes. Although not without problems, the ANC achieves victory in eight of South Africa’s nine provinces. In all of them, except one: KwaZulu-Natal, the second most populated in the country, land of the Zulus and Zuma’s birthplace, where he retains a popularity beyond reason. On July 9, 2021, hours after the former president was sentenced to 15 months in prison and detained for contempt of court, this province became the epicenter of a wave of protests and vandalism in which there were 354 deaths and the army He had to go out to the streets. In KwaZulu-Natal, Zuma’s uMkhonto We Sizwe (MK) won 45.9% of the vote, compared to 17.6% for the ANC.

One of the main scapegoats for the ANC’s failure could be Cyril Ramaphosa himself, current president and candidate for re-election, who replaced Zuma as head of state in 2018 with the intention of washing the image of his party and leading him to a new sunrise. In the coming weeks his political future will be clarified, but, in statements to the media, Nhlamulo Ndhlela, MK spokesperson, already sets conditions for a hypothetical negotiation: that Ramaphosa step aside and that a pardon be approved for Zuma who allows him to return to Parliament and thus become presidential again. “We are prepared to negotiate with the ANC, but not with Ramaphosa’s ANC,” he said.

Judicial ordeal

At 82 years old and after a judicial ordeal that has not ended, Zuma returns with unusual force to the political scene. Historical activist against apartheid and Mandela’s prison companion after a 10-year sentence, populist and controversial, president of the ANC between 2007 and 2017 and of South Africa between 2009 and 2018, his political career has been dotted with scandals, related both to his recognized polygamy and his numerous extramarital affairs as well as his alleged illicit activities. Zuma is accused of having participated in at least two major corruption schemes, one in which he accepted million-dollar bribes and another of arms trafficking in which he is charged with 16 counts of illicit association, corruption, money laundering and fraud.

His 15-month sentence for contempt in 2021, the first for a former South African president, prevented him from being on his party’s candidacy in these elections, but he has shown that he continues to have enormous support among his people despite the fact that MK barely counts. still with a solid structure. The complete provisional results are scheduled to be made public this Sunday, but no one can question that the setback suffered by the ANC comes, to a large extent, from a Zuma who today is licking his wounds and who has not said the last word about him. .

But in the equation of the post-electoral pacts of this new South Africa, the ANC and the MK are not alone. The Democratic Alliance (DA) of white leader John Steenhuisen, a center-right liberal, comes in second place with 21.7% of the vote, just one point above its 2019 results. Although it is in the ideological antipodes of the ANC, the fierce rivalry between Ramaphosa and Zuma could give it a chance. The one with the most sympathies among the traditional ANC electorate is Julius Malema’s radical left party, the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF), which won 9.4% of the ballots, as well as other small parties that could give it the necessary support. All options are on the table.

Follow all the international information on Facebook and xor in our weekly newsletter.

_