Former South African president Jacob Zuma appears in court during his corruption trial at the Pietermaritzburg High Court, Pietermaritzburg, South Africa, on May 26, 2021. He was expelled from the African National Congress on Monday. File Photo by Phill Magakoe/EPA-EFE
July 29 (UPI) — Former South African President Jacob Zuma was officially expelled from the African National Congress on Monday, signifying a pronounced divide between the party once led by Nelson Mandela to a man once picked to carry its torch.
The ANC’s Secretary General Comrade Fikile Mbalula highlighted numerous scandals Zuma had been connected to as the reason for expulsion. Mbalula said Zuma will have 21 days to appeal the decision.
“Former President Jacob Zuma has actively impugned the integrity of the ANC,” Mbalulu said in a news briefing. “This conduct is irreconcilable with the spirit of organization discipline and letter of the ANC constitution.”
The ANC had suspended Zuma’s membership in January after the former president threw his support behind a new rival political party, uMkhontoWeSizwe, or MK Party.
The MK Party called Zuma’s expulsion from the ANC “akin to a kangaroo court.”
“It is a foundational legal principle that no person, not even those accused of a serious crime, should be punished or sentenced in their absence,” the MK said.
The ANC shot back, saying that Zuma refused to take part in a virtual hearing that granted him to make his case to stay part of the ANC, instead demanding to appear in person.
“[The] kangaroo court is that MK,” Mbalulasaid. “Who are they to lecture people about due process?”
Zuma was forced to resign as South African president in 2018 over corruption scandals, even though he has maintained his innocence.